Budget Direct has recently released their inaugural Safe Suburbs Map for 2021. This first installment of the interactive map covers how safe each suburb is from property crime, covering postcodes within Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Budget Direct’s Jonathan Kerr said that, “Home buyers have more access to property and suburb data than ever before. Whether you’re looking for your first home or an investment property, it is really useful to be able to look at the property crime rate of your desired suburb.”

Kerr says “With Budget Direct’s Safe Suburbs Map, you can look up the postcodes of the suburbs where you’re looking to buy and see how many property crimes occur per 1,000 homes. You will be able to compare up to 2 postcodes at a time and how each suburb ranks within your desired state.”

“Budget Direct’s latest Home Burglary survey found that at least 1 in 4 Aussies (24.7%) were more concerned about home invasions in their suburbs compared to the previous 12 months. While you might be fortunate enough to live in a lower-risk suburb, it is still very important that you take actions to minimise your risk of home theft as this can happen to anyone.”

“According to our latest research, Budget Direct says you should consider taking a three-pronged approach to improving the security of your home: 

  • Increase the level of security within your home - at least 3 in 4 Aussies (74.2%) would install a home security system to reduce their insurance premium.
  • Get involved in the community - only 1 in 5 Aussies know about their local Neighbourhood Watch program.
  • Don’t allow window-shoppers - minimise the number of unknown visitors you allow into your home. For example, people posing as door-to-door salespeople can catch a glimpse inside your home to quickly identify vulnerabilities and identify valuable items.”

How well do you know the safety of your postcode or region? Here’s a breakdown of the safety of metro and regional areas in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

 

Queensland

  • Head out west to the Darling Downs & Maranoa if you‘re looking to live in Queensland’s safest region for property crime
  • There is no longer a northside/southside debate. Brisbane’s western suburbs are the safest with 33% marked “lower than average risk” extending from north-west suburbs such as The Gap to Moggill in the south-west, via Indooroopilly and the Centenary Suburbs
  • The Sunshine Coast has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (27%) compared to the Gold Coast which does not have any
  • Cairns has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (38%) compared to Townsville (13%)
  • Mackay has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (20%) compared to Rockhampton (17%)

Brisbane

Top 5 regions - Brisbane (% of suburbs that are lower than average risk)

  • Moreton Bay - 36%
  • Brisbane - West - 33%
  • Redlands - 22%
  • Brisbane - East - 21%
  • Logan - 10%

Top 5 postcodes: 

  • 4055 - Ferny Hills, Bunya - State rank #25
  • 4514 - Woodford, D'Aguilar, Delaneys Creek - State rank #30
  • 4520 - Samford Valley, Samford Village, Armstrong Creek - State rank #32
  • 4070 - Anstead, Bellbowrie, Moggill - State rank #34
  • 4021 -  Dayboro, Ocean View, Mount Mee - State rank #36

Regional QLD

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are lower than average risk):

  • Darling Downs & Maranoa (including Southern Downs, St George, Roma) - 48%
  • Fitzroy (Central Queensland including parts of Gladstone, Central Highlands) - 36%
  • Cairns Region - 38%
  • Queensland - Outback (including Barcaldine, Blackall, Cloncurry) - 33%
  • Wide Bay (including Gympie, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg) - 32%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 4876 - Bamaga, Seisia, New Mapoon - State rank #1
  • 4382 - Ballandean and Wyberba - State rank #2
  • 4480 - Quilpie, Eromanga - State rank #3
  • 4454 - Injune, Beilba, Baffle West - State rank #4
  • 4716 - Thangool, Lawgi Dawes - State rank #5

 

New South Wales

  • There’s a clear winner when it comes to the number of “lower than average risk” Sydney suburbs. Sydney’s North and suburbs north of the Harbour Bridge are the safest for property crime including the Upper & Lower North Shore to Hornsby, Northern Beaches and Ryde taking out the top 3 safest areas in NSW for property crime
  • The Southern Highlands & Shoalhaven region which takes in regional centres such as Nowra, Bowral and Batemans Bay has the highest proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (38%)
  • Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (41%) compared to the Inner West (35%)

Sydney

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are “lower than average risk” ):

  • North Sydney and Hornsby - 68% 
  • Northern Beaches - 60%
  • Ryde - 57%
  • Sutherland - 55%
  • Eastern Suburbs - 41%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 2776 - Faulconbridge - State rank #4
  • 2085 - Belrose, Davidson - State rank #6
  • 2090 - Cremorne, Cremorne Point - State rank #9
  • 2125 - West Pennant Hills - State rank #12
  • 2172 - Voyager Point, Pleasure Point, Sandy Point - State rank #13

Regional NSW

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are “lower than average risk”):

  • Southern Highlands & Shoalhaven - 38%
  • Capital Region - 33% 
  • Hume - 33%
  • North West - 33%
  • Central West - 30%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 2865 - Manildra, Bocobra, Gumble (Central West) - State rank #1
  • 2625 - Thredbo (Capital Region) - State rank #2
  • 2628 - Berridale, Dalgety, Avonside (Capital Region) - State rank #3
  • 2797 - Lyndhurst, Garland, Woodstock (Central West) - State rank #5
  • 2405 - Garah, Boomi - State rank #10

 

Victoria

  • Warrnambool and South West Victoria is regarded as the safest region in the state for property crime with 55% of “lower than average risk” postcodes. This includes regional centres along the Great Ocean Road including Apollo Bay, extending to Colac and Casterton
  • Melbourne’s Outer-East suburbs rank highest in the metropolitan area, extending from Doncaster East to Belgrave and Lilydale
  • Bendigo has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (35%) compared to Ballarat which does not have any
  • The Mornington Peninsula has a higher proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (30%) compared to Geelong (16%)

Melbourne

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are lower than average risk):

  • Melbourne - Outer East - 29%
  • Melbourne - North East - 23%
  • Melbourne - North West - 14%
  • Melbourne - South East - 14%
  • Melbourne - West - 7%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 3115 - Wonga Park - State rank #4
  • 3792 - The Patch - State rank #6
  • 3814 - Garfield, Garfield North, Cora Lynn, Vervale - State rank #18
  • 3808 - Beaconsfield Upper, Dewhurst - State rank #25
  • 3808 - Ferny Creek - State rank #30 

Regional VIC

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are lower than average risk):

  • Warrnambool & South West - 56%
  • Hume - 46%
  • Bendigo - 35%
  • Mornington Peninsula - 30%
  • North West - 30%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 3115 - Teesdale - State rank #1
  • 3462 - Green Gully - State rank #2
  • 3698 - Mount Beauty - Tawonga South - State rank #3
  • 3898 - Anglers Rest, Omeo, Glen Valley - State rank #7
  • 3898 - Lockington - State rank #8

 

South Australia

  • The South Australian Outback is the safest region in the state for property crime (48%) extending a wide area to cover Olympic Dam, Port Neill and Coober Pedy
  • The Adelaide Central & Hills has the highest proportion of “lower than average risk” suburbs (28%) which takes in the CBD, Unley and out to Aldgate. 
  • This is more than double that of the next safest metropolitan area for property crime Adelaide South suburbs (10%) which extends from Clarence Gardens to Belair and Morphett Vale  

Top 5 regions (% of suburbs that are lower than average risk):

  • South Australia - Outback - 48%
  • Barossa - Yorke - Mid North - 39%
  • South Australia - South East - 30%
  • Adelaide - Central and Hills - 28%
  • Adelaide - South - 10%

Top 5 postcodes:

  • 5151 - Piccadilly - State rank #7
  • 5155 - Bridgewater, Mount George - State rank #13
  • 5154 - Aldgate - State rank #19
  • 5076 - Athelstone, Adelaide, Castambul - State rank #22
  • 5137 - Ashton, Marble Hill - State rank #25

 

You can find the full breakdown of the survey results at https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/home-contents-insurance/home-safety/safe-suburbs-map.html

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