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1. National context

1.1 AUS - Motor vehicle theft summary, 2019/20 to 2020/21

1.1
State or Territory	2019/20		2020/21		% change	Theft rate per 1,000 registrations
State or Territory	Thefts	% of thefts	Thefts	% of thefts	% change	2019/20	2020/21
ACT	1,131	2.0%	1,176	2.5%	4.0%	3.64	3.68
NSW	11,777	21.0%	10,896	22.8%	-7.5%	2.04	1.87
NT	643	1.1%	670	1.4%	4.2%	4.01	4.16
QLD	14,406	25.6%	12,977	27.1%	-9.9%	3.25	2.87
SA	3,488	6.2%	2,802	5.9%	-19.7%	2.32	1.84
TAS	1,139	2.0%	996	2.1%	-12.6%	2.34	2.02
VIC	16,759	29.8%	12,651	26.5%	-24.5%	3.17	2.38
WA	6,845	12.2%	5,635	11.8%	-17.7%	2.95	2.38
AUS	56,188	100.0%	47,803	100.0%	-14.9%	2.77	2.33

2. Trend over time

2.1 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts by financial year and body type, 2016/17 to 2020/21

2.1
Financial year	All motor vehicles	Passenger/light commercial	Motorcycles	Other vehicles
2016/17	57,034	46,242	8,292	2,500
2017/18	52,593	42,028	8,474	2,091
2018/19	55,162	43,719	9,258	2,185
2019/20	56,188	44,900	9,014	2,274
2020/21	47,803	38,187	7,701	1,915

2.1 adjusted short term
Financial year	All motor vehicles	Passenger/light commercial	Motorcycles	Other vehicles
2016/17	42,664	37,201	4,140	1,323
2017/18	39,180	33,743	4,285	1,152
2018/19	40,718	34,755	4,746	1,217
2019/20	41,600	35,589	4,783	1,228
2020/21	35,337	30,480	3,893	964

2.1 adjusted profit motivated
Financial year	All motor vehicles	Passenger/light commercial	Motorcycles	Other vehicles
2016/17	14,370	9,041	4,152	1,177
2017/18	13,413	8,285	4,189	939
2018/19	14,444	8,964	4,512	968
2019/20	14,588	9,311	4,231	1,046
2020/21	12,466	7,707	3,808	951

3. What was stolen?

3.1 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts by body group, 2020/21 (solid colour) vs 2019/20 (outline)

2020/21 (solid colour) vs 2019/20 (outline)
Body type group	Body type detail	Thefts	% of thefts	Thefts	% of thefts
Passenger/light commercial		38,187	79.9%	44,900	79.9%
Motorcycles		7,701	16.1%	9,014	16.0%
Other vehicles		1,915	4.0%	2,274	4.0%
Passenger/light commercial	Small passenger	9,776	25.6%	11,843	26.4%
Passenger/light commercial	Medium passenger	3,704	9.7%	4,204	9.4%
Passenger/light commercial	Large passenger	5,099	13.4%	6,295	14.0%
Passenger/light commercial	Sports	1,075	2.8%	1,336	3.0%
Passenger/light commercial	SUV	9,484	24.8%	10,359	23.1%
Passenger/light commercial	People mover	412	1.1%	477	1.1%
Passenger/light commercial	Light commercial utility	7,174	18.8%	8,628	19.2%
Passenger/light commercial	Light commercial van	955	2.5%	1,314	2.9%
Passenger/light commercial	Motor home	34	0.1%	29	0.1%
Passenger/light commercial	Unknown passenger	474	1.2%	415	0.9%
Motorcycles	On-road standard	419	5.4%	526	5.8%
Motorcycles	On-road sport	1,084	14.1%	1,373	15.2%
Motorcycles	On-road touring	141	1.8%	159	1.8%
Motorcycles	On-road cruiser	193	2.5%	241	2.7%
Motorcycles	On-road scooter	1,673	21.7%	1,880	20.9%
Motorcycles	On-road electric	2	0.0%	3	0.0%
Motorcycles	On-road unknown	245	3.2%	296	3.3%
Motorcycles	Off-road ATV	293	3.8%	330	3.7%
Motorcycles	Off-road dirt	242	3.1%	265	2.9%
Motorcycles	Off-road sport	718	9.3%	833	9.2%
Motorcycles	Off-road mini	134	1.7%	146	1.6%
Motorcycles	Off-road electric	0	0.0%	1	0.0%
Motorcycles	Off-road unknown	459	6.0%	432	4.8%
Motorcycles	Unknown non-electric	2,096	27.2%	2,528	28.0%
Motorcycles	Unknown electric	1	0.0%	1	0.0%
Motorcycles	Unknown motorcycle	1	0.0%	0	0.0%
Other vehicles	Heavy plant and equipment	600	31.3%	649	28.5%
Other vehicles	Heavy truck	849	44.3%	1,110	48.8%
Other vehicles	Heavy unknown	13	0.7%	16	0.7%
Other vehicles	Bus	131	6.8%	126	5.5%
Other vehicles	Other	59	3.1%	113	5.0%
Other vehicles	Unknown body type	263	13.7%	260	11.4%

3.2 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts by year of manufacture, 2020/21 (solid colour) vs 2019/20 (outline)

2020/21 (solid colour) vs 2019/20 (outline)
Decade of manufacture	Year of manufacture	Thefts	% of thefts	Thefts	% of thefts
<1970		78	0.2%	86	0.2%
<1970	1900	1	1.3%	1	1.2%
<1970	1920	1	1.3%	0	0.0%
<1970	1924	0	0.0%	1	1.2%
<1970	1925	1	1.3%	0	0.0%
<1970	1927	0	0.0%	1	1.2%
<1970	1929	0	0.0%	1	1.2%
<1970	1930	0	0.0%	1	1.2%
<1970	1942	1	1.3%	0	0.0%
<1970	1947	0	0.0%	1	1.2%
<1970	1948	1	1.3%	1	1.2%
<1970	1950	2	2.6%	1	1.2%
<1970	1951	2	2.6%	0	0.0%
<1970	1952	0	0.0%	2	2.3%
<1970	1953	3	3.8%	1	1.2%
<1970	1955	2	2.6%	0	0.0%
<1970	1956	2	2.6%	5	5.8%
<1970	1957	5	6.4%	1	1.2%
<1970	1958	4	5.1%	2	2.3%
<1970	1959	2	2.6%	2	2.3%
<1970	1960	3	3.8%	1	1.2%
<1970	1961	3	3.8%	2	2.3%
<1970	1962	6	7.7%	3	3.5%
<1970	1963	3	3.8%	7	8.1%
<1970	1964	5	6.4%	9	10.5%
<1970	1965	4	5.1%	8	9.3%
<1970	1966	3	3.8%	4	4.7%
<1970	1967	10	12.8%	8	9.3%
<1970	1968	10	12.8%	12	14.0%
<1970	1969	4	5.1%	11	12.8%
1970s		186	0.4%	188	0.3%
1970s	1970	17	9.1%	13	6.9%
1970s	1971	15	8.1%	14	7.4%
1970s	1972	20	10.8%	14	7.4%
1970s	1973	12	6.5%	12	6.4%
1970s	1974	22	11.8%	24	12.8%
1970s	1975	17	9.1%	21	11.2%
1970s	1976	31	16.7%	24	12.8%
1970s	1977	16	8.6%	13	6.9%
1970s	1978	19	10.2%	24	12.8%
1970s	1979	17	9.1%	29	15.4%
1980s		692	1.4%	960	1.7%
1980s	1980	21	3.0%	40	4.2%
1980s	1981	23	3.3%	30	3.1%
1980s	1982	33	4.8%	35	3.6%
1980s	1983	34	4.9%	43	4.5%
1980s	1984	51	7.4%	66	6.9%
1980s	1985	97	14.0%	121	12.6%
1980s	1986	67	9.7%	112	11.7%
1980s	1987	76	11.0%	102	10.6%
1980s	1988	119	17.2%	193	20.1%
1980s	1989	171	24.7%	218	22.7%
1990s		4,221	8.8%	6,128	10.9%
1990s	1990	186	4.4%	319	5.2%
1990s	1991	169	4.0%	269	4.4%
1990s	1992	239	5.7%	349	5.7%
1990s	1993	273	6.5%	409	6.7%
1990s	1994	303	7.2%	452	7.4%
1990s	1995	372	8.8%	525	8.6%
1990s	1996	449	10.6%	620	10.1%
1990s	1997	541	12.8%	789	12.9%
1990s	1998	812	19.2%	1,132	18.5%
1990s	1999	877	20.8%	1,264	20.6%
2000s		17,201	36.0%	21,278	37.9%
2000s	2000	969	5.6%	1,377	6.5%
2000s	2001	1,120	6.5%	1,458	6.9%
2000s	2002	1,206	7.0%	1,521	7.1%
2000s	2003	1,649	9.6%	2,170	10.2%
2000s	2004	1,844	10.7%	2,223	10.4%
2000s	2005	1,952	11.3%	2,356	11.1%
2000s	2006	2,060	12.0%	2,513	11.8%
2000s	2007	2,250	13.1%	2,715	12.8%
2000s	2008	2,233	13.0%	2,687	12.6%
2000s	2009	1,918	11.2%	2,258	10.6%
2010s		21,148	44.2%	24,353	43.3%
2010s	2010	2,145	10.1%	2,492	10.2%
2010s	2011	1,958	9.3%	2,402	9.9%
2010s	2012	2,257	10.7%	2,524	10.4%
2010s	2013	2,076	9.8%	2,513	10.3%
2010s	2014	2,002	9.5%	2,290	9.4%
2010s	2015	1,967	9.3%	2,250	9.2%
2010s	2016	1,963	9.3%	2,331	9.6%
2010s	2017	2,108	10.0%	2,534	10.4%
2010s	2018	2,262	10.7%	2,939	12.1%
2010s	2019	2,410	11.4%	2,078	8.5%
2020s		1,629	3.4%	119	0.2%
2020s	2020	1,423	87.4%	119	100.0%
2020s	2021	206	12.6%	0	0.0%
Unknown		2,648	5.5%	3,076	5.5%
Unknown	0	2,648	100.0%	3,076	100.0%

3.3 AUS - Top motor vehicle theft targets, 2020/21

Make model series year range	2019/20	2020/21
Holden Commodore VE MY06_13	1,010	898
Toyota Hilux MY05_11	636	527
Ford Ranger PX MY11+	443	495
Toyota Hilux MY15+	411	443
Holden Captiva CG MY06_19	387	404
Holden Commodore VY MY02_04	451	369
Nissan Navara D40 MY05_15	446	360
Toyota Hilux MY12_15	442	357
Holden Commodore VZ MY04_06	376	323
Ford Falcon BA MY02_05	403	312
Ford Falcon FG MY08_14	340	312
Toyota Hilux MY98_04	345	293
Mazda 3 BK MY04_09	314	292
Holden Cruze JH MY11_16	298	275
Volkswagen Golf 1K MY04_13	296	265
Toyota Corolla ZRE152R MY07_14	273	258
Nissan Pulsar N15 MY95_00	517	249
Toyota Corolla ZZE122R MY01_07	273	239
Holden Commodore VX MY00_02	309	224
Toyota Corolla ZRE182R MY12_18	318	222

4. Where were they stolen?

4.1 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts by top Local Government Areas (LGA), 2020/21 vs 2019/20

State or Territory	LGA	2019/20	2020/21	% change
QLD	Brisbane (City)	3,367	3,019	-10.3%
QLD	Gold Coast (City)	2,238	2,103	-6.0%
ACT	Greater ACT	1,126	1,167	3.6%
QLD	Logan (City)	1,634	1,118	-31.6%
QLD	Townsville (City)	857	907	5.8%
QLD	Moreton Bay (Regional Council)	1,152	853	-26.0%
VIC	Hume (City)	1,029	725	-29.5%
QLD	Cairns (Regional Council)	678	658	-2.9%
VIC	Casey (City)	795	653	-17.9%
QLD	Ipswich (City)	630	592	-6.0%

5. When were they stolen?

5.1 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts by time of day and day of week, 2020/21

Earliest possible time of theft	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
00:00 - 03:59	1,173	1,061	1,088	1,050	1,077	1,133	1,360	7,942
04:00 - 07:59	603	625	566	614	601	542	537	4,088
08:00 - 11:59	762	733	745	719	805	793	650	5,207
12:00 - 15:59	935	844	882	933	1,184	1,066	915	6,759
16:00 - 19:59	1,489	1,473	1,432	1,551	1,867	1,642	1,529	10,983
20:00 - 23:59	1,834	1,728	1,670	1,792	1,930	1,949	1,921	12,824
Total	6,796	6,464	6,383	6,659	7,464	7,125	6,912	47,803

5.2 AUS - Motor vehicle thefts using aoristic analysis, 2020/21

Probability ~ Low High

Incident day of week	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Monday	0.05817473	0.07380807	0.1030601	0.1899103	0.2151618	0.3960671	0.5346506	0.7347803	0.8813952	0.8627092	0.9191116	0.9403692	0.7956724	0.9741893	0.8791158	0.9392715	0.8955481	0.8678417	0.8704904	0.8127397	0.6312365	0.5331066	0.4140266	0.3365217
Tuesday	0.1463969	0.2480794	0.1828032	0.2352502	0.2625158	0.3952028	0.5217072	0.7633188	0.8731322	0.9045883	0.9583572	0.9536099	0.9588124	0.9900453	0.9406967	0.9560151	0.9486249	0.9161364	0.8473278	0.816689	0.7077091	0.584281	0.4250186	0.3886358
Wednesday	0.185376	0.2733642	0.1501581	0.2219517	0.3374554	0.4664069	0.6332568	0.8111895	0.8946936	0.9495137	0.972508	0.9626854	0.8677152	0.9380238	0.9581627	0.9514348	0.9111964	0.9132131	0.8656276	0.823153	0.7135665	0.693917	0.5284232	0.4161205
Thursday	0.2285847	0.3094373	0.2694014	0.2903549	0.3525125	0.4575356	0.6241996	0.7687654	0.9317439	0.9638283	0.9352441	0.9831481	0.8878978	1	0.9487953	0.9510947	0.8889531	0.8912526	0.8034567	0.8435854	0.675569	0.6067609	0.4532802	0.3659876
Friday	0.2346435	0.2224172	0.3107224	0.2236291	0.3189062	0.4375436	0.6249322	0.8190488	0.901414	0.9178707	0.9206297	0.9654623	0.8613513	0.9463367	0.8683851	0.8895774	0.8420019	0.8722994	0.8114177	0.7279819	0.5586956	0.5427778	0.3792025	0.1899093
Saturday	0.1113779	0.1579482	0.1863262	0.1440259	0.2432512	0.353116	0.5222955	0.7008958	0.838096	0.9126408	0.9416558	0.9311936	0.8683191	0.944388	0.9448116	0.8897649	0.8514063	0.8069144	0.7394392	0.6553003	0.5359414	0.4703624	0.3173073	0.2228118
Sunday	0.06086932	0.05775101	0	0.05984268	0.1132283	0.2863382	0.4325686	0.5937826	0.7277515	0.7973459	0.8711983	0.9380047	0.9023858	0.975829	0.9381456	0.8734822	0.8716511	0.8581899	0.7553751	0.7179866	0.6031097	0.4849936	0.3931455	0.2382614

*Short term thefts are defined as motor vehicles that were stolen and recovered, profit motivated thefts were those stolen and not recovered. Recovery status is as at 31 July 2021 for all states/territories except for TAS which is at 30 June 2021.

Recovery data used in this report has been adjusted for the number of missing vehicles that are expected to be recovered up to a year after the close of the data period. This adjustment has the effect of moving a percentage of vehicles from the profit motivated (not recovered category) to the short term (recovered category) in the last period.

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) acknowledges all police services, registration authorities, participating insurers, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Glass’s Information Services and Insurance Australia Group for the supply of the data on which this report is compiled. Theft incident data may be subject to later revision by the data providers. This work is copyright. Material may be reproduced for personal, non-commercial use or for use within your organisation with attribution to the NMVTRC (carsafe.com.au). © 2021 NMVTRC. All rights reserved.

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