Crime statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show Goulburn recorded an increase in domestic violence-related assault and fraud crimes from January 2022 to the end of 2023 while the Wingecarribee area recorded an increase in motor vehicle theft and fraud offences.
The Goulburn Mulwaree LGA covers Goulburn, Marulan, Tarago, and surrounding villages. The Wingecarribee LGA includes Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, and nearby suburbs.
The graph above shows that both areas have comparable motor vehicle theft data from 2019 to 2020, but a discrepancy is displayed from 2021 to 2023.
Incidents of motor vehicle theft also increased in both LGAs from 2022.
Data for Goulburn shows that the number of incidents nearly doubled from 21 to 41 between 2020 and 2021.
Although Goulburn’s rate per 100,000 and number of incidents is considerably larger than Wingecarribee, the wider Mittagong region has seen a 67.9 per cent increase in this offence in the last 24 months.
Similarly to motor vehicle theft, fraud-related offences have increased marginally in the Wingecarribee area. Goulburn, however, has inflated by 53.3 per cent in the past two years regarding this offence.
Bowral resident Griff Lee argues that the increase in fraud could be due to the cost-of-living crisis.
“The increase of fraud in my opinion is most likely because of the cost-of-living crisis. People these days are more likely to scam others out of money, leading to more fraud crimes reported.”
– Bowral resident Griff Lee