Youth offending has dropped for the first time in half a decade in one state as another grapples with a surge in thefts targeting popular e-bikes.
Criminal offences in Victoria fell 0.2 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, the latest Crime Statistics Agency figures released on Thursday show.
Car thefts were among the key drivers of the state's overall crime rate, mirroring findings from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, which showed retail theft had increased by nine per cent over the past two years.
Overall crime in Victoria has increased by 26 per cent over the past three years.
Still, youth offenders committing crime has dropped six per cent, with the rate of alleged adult incidents rising by 10.8 per cent over the past year.
Despite the reduction, police note that young people remain over-represented in serious and violent crimes such as robberies, carjackings and home invasions.
''For the first time since 2022, incidents alleged to be linked to youth offenders have decreased, with adults now responsible for 88.0 per cent of offender incidents," CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said.
''There has been a 10.8 per cent increase in adult offender incidents recorded over the last 12 months, driven by increases in breaches of bail conditions, stealing from retail stores and breaches of family violence orders.''
While the number of offences decreased in Victoria, there was a near six per cent increase in justice procedures offences, with the main driver being breaches of orders or bail conditions.
Theft incidents increased by just over six per cent, with more than 44,000 offences recorded, and stealing from retail stores also increased by nearly 12 per cent.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines was upbeat but stopped short of declaring Victoria had turned the corner on crime.
''It's for others to make their judgements on the statistics and the trends,'' he told reporters.
It comes as NSW grapples with a growing wave of thieves targeting motorised bicycles, with thefts surging 27 per cent over two years, rising from 1644 to 2080 in the year to March.
''As e-bikes have become more popular, they have also become more attractive targets for theft," BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said.
"Theft of e-bikes has risen sharply and is now the major contributor to growth in other stealing offences."
In February, the NSW government estimated there were 760,000 e-bikes in the state after a rapid growth in sales.
Theft of copper also saw a remarkable 16 per cent spike, a rise of 192 incidents.
Liquor theft incidents jumped 13 per cent in the two-year span, while liquor premises were the most common target making up one-fifth of all incidents.
