There’s no doubt about it — the Gold Coast population is growing. As one of Australia’s fastest-growing cities, our population is due to double to 1 million residents in the next 20 years. Unfortunately, with an explosion of new coast dwellers comes a rise in household crime.
The ABS reports that an estimated 4.3% of Australian households experienced at least one break-in (or attempted break-in) over the last twelve months. In 2021, Queensland Police recorded 4,203 incidents of unlawful entry and 442 incidents of trespassing in Gold Coast homes. While the main consequence of a break-in was stolen property, in almost 12% of cases the break-in resulted in a confrontation between the victim and the perpetrator.
As a homeowner you’re likely looking to prevent a break-in, secure your property and keep your family as safe as possible. To protect your home and family, here are our top five things you need to know about household crime on the Gold Coast.
1. Concern about home burglary is on the rise in Queensland
In 2021, Budget Direct surveyed over 1,000 people, to find out how home burglaries are affecting Australians. They found that over 30% of Queenslanders are more concerned about home burglary than in prior years — a larger percentage than any other state or territory.
The highest rates among those feeling concerned were aged 25-34. Budget Direct surmised that the reason for concern among this age group was that they are commonly looking into buying their first home, and therefore the risks of home burglary are more apparent.
2. Your doors and windows are your first line of defence to prevent a break-in
For break-ins that occurred in 2021, the most common points of entry were:
- An unlocked door (40%)
- A broken door or window (35%)
- An unlocked window (28%)
- A picked or broken lock (20%).
It’s clear from this data that in most cases, doors and windows that are not adequately secured can leave your property vulnerable.
One of the biggest mistakes is one of the most basic: accidentally leaving a door or window open when you leave the house. The second mistake is having flimsy materials protecting your doors and windows, such as exterior doors made of hollow wood that are easy to kick down or open windows with thin flyscreen that intruders can cut through to gain access.
3. Dogs are a big deterrent to criminals
The biggest in fact! A recent survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology asked convicted home invaders to identify the top factors that would make them decide against a house break-in. 61.4% of respondents answered that a loud dog regardless of size would stop them from attempting to vandalise a home.
Many burglars make a plan to break into a home, so the unpredictability and commotion caused by a noisy dog can often be enough to make them choose a different house.
4. Your social media habits can give burglars an advantage
It’s true — criminals are getting creative. Your social media accounts are one way that burglars are finding out when you’re not at home, such as when you post information about business trips or holidays interstate. Many social media apps also use geotagging to add location information to your photos and videos, which allows anyone to find out exactly where and when you took them.
But you don’t even need to be staying away from home for burglars to use social media to track your movements. If you’re posting regular check-ins throughout the day, sophisticated criminals can work out your daily routine, including when you’re at work and when you’ll be home.
5. You can greatly improve your home security without paying for a fancy security system
Home security systems are an excellent way that you can be alerted to any suspicious behaviour near your home. However, they can be incredibly expensive to install, and even more expensive to maintain, as many have weekly costs for 24/7 monitoring.
If you’re looking for an affordable option to secure your home, consider installing high-quality security screens on your accessible doors and windows. A security screen creates a physical barrier between your home and the outside, making it a lot more difficult for intruders to gain access. Having screens on your doors and windows is a great deterrent to criminals, as they send a clear message that they’ll have trouble breaking in.
Goldco Security manufactures and installs the highest-quality Amplimesh® security screens on the Gold Coast. Both our SupaScreen® and IntrudaGuard® Security Mesh screens are tested to Australian Standard AS5039-2008 for maximum impact and shear resistance to keep your home and family safe and secure. Not only that, our security screens are certified Australian made and manufactured right here on the Gold Coast. Our SupaScreen® unique patented pressure process eliminates the need for screws, rivets, pins or snap-ins to retain the mesh panel. This keeps your doors looking great, while also avoiding the possibility of corrosion.
If you’d like to chat with a friendly member of the Goldco Security team about our security screen options, make sure you get in touch. We pride ourselves on our quality workmanship, old-fashioned service and competitive pricing.
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