By Cat Woods -
Has shoplifting become so common that it has lost its stigma as a criminal offence? This is the question being asked by NSW retailers, and in the fields of law and justice. It is hardly a phenomenon confined to NSW, nor Australia, with the UK media reporting a rise in retail shoplifting also. So, what’s behind the substantial rise in shoplifting over the last few years in NSW, and what levers can the legal profession pull to curb it?
On 16 September last year, the crime statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) revealed that over the previous two years to June 2025, there had been significant increases in two major offence categories, sexual assault and retail theft. Simultaneously, other offences declined, including break and enter-dwelling (down 10.2 per cent), break and enter non-dwelling (down 3.1 per cent), steal from motor vehicle (down 11.3 per cent), and malicious damage to property (down 6.1 per cent).
Recorded incidents of retail theft rose 5.1 per cent over the past two years, up from 28,114 in 2023/24 to 29,552 in 2024/25. Since 2015, recorded retail theft incidents increased by nearly 30 percent, growing at an average rate of 2.9 per cent per year.
Liquor leads the most-stolen items
Liquor remains the most commonly stolen item, according to BOCSAR. Where the nature of items was recorded, liquor was involved in 40 percent of thefts (an increase by 141 percent over the past decade). Licensed premises are the most frequent targets, accounting for 21 per cent of all retail theft incidents.
BOCSAR executive director, Jackie Fitzgerald, said: “Thieves tend to target high-value spirits such as whiskey and bourbon. The average value of liquor stolen is $102, reflecting a clear preference for premium products.”
Coming in second, clothing and footwear were involved in 24 percent of retail thefts in 2024/25 (an increase of more than double the cases in the last decade). Shopping complexes are the prime target for these thefts, with a median loss of $301 per incident.
And in third place, food accounted for 14 percent of thefts, most commonly in supermarkets. The median loss in food-related thefts was $100.
The offender profile and the police response
In less than half (40 per cent) of retail theft incidents, police laid charges, with the majority of offenders being adults. BOCSAR data indicate one in seven offenders charged was a young person aged 10 to 17 years.
Fitzgerald said: “While adults make up most of those charged, youth involvement remains a concern. There’s a public perception that retail theft is primarily a youth-driven issue, yet the data shows it’s a broader problem affecting a wide range of locations and product types.”
NSW Police Force Operation Percentile is, according to a media statement, “a proactive operation using an intelligence-led approach to identify and disrupt repeat retail crime offenders”. Rolled out statewide in October last year, the program promised to target “high-harm retail offenders”. It was initiated in August 2024 in the central Sydney district and deemed effective.
On 17 December 2025, officers attached to The Hume Police District conducted a day-long operation in the Goulburn shopping precinct, from 9am to 6pm. Their presence resulted in two arrests, four people charged, and seven shoplifting infringements issued, 18 people searched, three drug detections, and seven banning notices served.
Since 1993, The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre has provided free legal assistance for homeless and disadvantaged young people aged 25 and under. It is operated jointly by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Mission Australia and The Salvation Army. The legal services are provided by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer on a pro bono basis.
Jane Sanders is the Principal Solicitor at The Shopfront, based in Surry Hills. She says that while staff there have observed changes in policing trends over time, and an increase in domestic violence arrests, the increased shoplifting statistics haven’t been reflected in demand for support.
Still, she says, “a few years ago, we saw trends in more people being prosecuted for things because of the increased presence of CCTV everywhere, and better quality CCTV that maybe enabled people to be identified more clearly, but I haven’t really seen a noticeable increase in clients coming to us for shoplifting.”
That could well be explained by the police having laid charges in only 40 per cent of cases, and mostly against adults. When cases do end up in court, the defendant is often treated with care, says Sanders.
“I think that courts are, in general, relatively sympathetic to people who are stealing because of an actual or perceived need for food and other necessities. And they will try to impose sentencing options that provide support rather than punishment. So, if the person’s got a drug problem and they’re an adult, the court might refer them to MERIT, or they’ll put them on a community-based order and try to get some support services in place for them.”
“… generally, the courts don’t come down with a really harsh, punitive approach. Sometimes they do.”
However, outcomes will depend on multiple factors.
Sanders says, “If it’s people stealing high value items, or in-demand products in high quantities, like baby food, where the obvious motivation is to sell it, they get a little less sympathy. I think generally, the courts don’t come down with a really harsh, punitive approach. Sometimes they do. We hear horror stories, particularly from out in the [rural and regional areas], of people getting custodial sentences for shoplifting when it’s really being driven by policy, or from magistrates imposing bail conditions, banning them from every shop in town, basically.”
That is more common with serial shoplifters, says Sanders.
The rise in shoplifting makes sense after the pandemic era of raised Centrelink benefits and provision of hotel room accommodation to people experiencing homelessness, she explains.
“The rate of Centrelink benefits was doubled,” she says. “It was greatly increased during that period, and more and better accommodation was provided. So, for the most marginalised, I feel that some of them actually did better over that period… After that, things crashed, when the rate of Centrelink benefits went back to normal.”
As for the potential response from various sectors, Sanders offers these thoughts. “Raising the Centrelink rates really needs to happen so that people are actually living above the poverty line and not below it. Maybe fresh food needs to be subsidised as a matter of public health. That would address the demand, but then there’s the opportunity. I don’t know if this is statistically borne out by the research, but since all the supermarkets started self-checkouts, some would say that it’s easier to shoplift by scanning a few things through and then missing a few things and just chucking them in your bag. There’s increased scope for opportunistic shoplifting.”
BOCSAR’s Jackie Fitzgerald says, “The recorded rate of retail theft rate last year was the highest in 20 years and 36 per cent higher than in 2006.”
She suggests the following factors are contributing:
- Increased detection due to better surveillance and security at retail outlets
- Increased opportunity for retail theft due to things like self-service checkouts
- Increased reporting to police by retail outlets who may now have policies to report shoplifting to police
- Possible migration from other property crimes (like break and enter, steal from vehicle, steal from person) which are no longer as lucrative due to changes in the stolen goods market and the reduction in the use of cash, towards retail theft which can return tangible, immediate gains. (Note however that the modest increase in retail theft in no way comes close to offsetting the large falls in other high-volume property crimes.)
