MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT AND THEFT FROM A MOTOR VEHICLE ^{Endnote 1}

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT

What is motor vehicle theft?

In this survey, motor vehicle theft is defined as an incident where a motor vehicle was stolen from any member of the household. This includes:

• cars, SUVs, motorcycles (including motorised scooters), buses, trucks and motor homes
• privately owned vehicles and business/employer/company owned vehicles, only if the vehicle was used exclusively by members of the household.

Motor vehicle theft excludes boats, trailers and company vehicles not used exclusively by household members.

For the purposes of this survey, motor vehicle theft incidents are considered to be household crimes rather than a crime against an individual person.

Who experienced motor vehicle theft in 2015-16? (Table 6)

In the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 0.5% of households (48,600) experienced motor vehicle theft.

What else do we know about motor vehicle theft incidents?

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for households that experienced motor vehicle theft during the 12 months prior to interview.

As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by a household in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).

Reporting rate (Table 22)

More than 9 in 10 households (93% or 45,200) that experienced motor vehicle theft had their most recent incident reported to police.

Other selected characteristics (Table 22)

In the most recent incident of motor vehicle theft, common locations where motor vehicle theft occurred were at a home location (46%) and in the street or other open land (34%).

THEFT FROM A MOTOR VEHICLE

What is theft from a motor vehicle?

In this survey, theft from a motor vehicle is defined as the theft of property owned by any member of the household from a motor vehicle owned (for private use) by any member of that household.

It excludes:

• property stolen that belonged to someone not living in the household (e.g. a friend or other relative)
• property owned by a business or employer (e.g. a computer, mobile phone or work tools)
• property stolen from commercial vehicles (this includes a self-employed business operator whose vehicle is mainly used for work purposes)
• any break-in into a motor vehicle if nothing was stolen.

Who experienced theft from a motor vehicle in 2015-16? (Table 6)

During the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 2.9% of households (264,400) experienced theft from a motor vehicle.

What else do we know about theft from a motor vehicle theft incidents?

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for households that experienced theft from a motor vehicle in the 12 months prior to interview.

As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by a household in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).

Reporting rate (Table 23)

Just over half of all households (54% or 142,900) that experienced theft from a motor vehicle had their most recent incident reported to police.

Over one-quarter (28% or 74,300 households) of households that experienced theft from a motor vehicle did not report the incident to police, as it was considered to be too trivial or unimportant. A further 9% (24,500 households) did not report the incident to police, as it was believed that there was nothing the police could do.

Other selected characteristics (Table 23)

In the most recent incident of theft from a motor vehicle experienced by households:

• the most common type of property stolen was money, purse, or a wallet (40% or 106,400 households), followed by other personal items (25% or 65,300 households)
• the most common location of theft from a motor vehicle was the person's home (66% or 174,100 households), followed by in the street or other open land (13% or 34,700 households).

ENDNOTE

Endnote 1 All comparisons discussed have been tested for statistical significance with a 95% level of confidence that there is a real difference in the two populations being tested. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are referred to in the text of this publication and these estimates are considered sufficiently reliable for general use. To determine whether there is a statistical difference between any other two estimates, significance testing should be undertaken. For further information, refer to the Technical Note.