General News
9 January, 2026
Family violence offending remains high
The Central Goldfields Shire (CGS) saw a 9.3 percent drop in reported offending in 2025, despite local family violence offences still some of the highest compared to the rest of the state.
Despite a significant spike in reported offending across the shire in 2024, recently released data from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA), showed a slight decline in offences in the region for last year.
The CSA said there were a total of 1080 criminal incidents and 1560 offences recorded in the CGS.
The shire saw roughly the same amount of criminal incidents reported, at only a 0.8 percent decrease from the previous year.
Maryborough Police Acting Sergeant Crystal Clark said these statistics are reflected by continued police presence and visibility locally.
“Maryborough Police have taken a positive approach to proactive policing in recent years and providing a visible police presence to deter offending and this has likely assisted with the decrease in crime statistics recorded,” she said.
According to the CSA, the five most common crime subgroups in Victoria last year included child offending (crimes committed by those aged between 12-17), home burglaries, knife crime and retail theft.
However, the most common offences in the CGS by far were breaches of family violence orders, with 271 recorded offences in 2025, followed by criminal damage, drug possession, ‘other’ theft and retail theft.
The data also showed a significant portion of crimes committed in the shire took place in homes, the most common location in each consecutive year since 2016.
Family violence order breaches were the fourth fastest growing crime in Victoria for 2025, with police intelligence showing most breaches were related to offenders using mobile phones and social media to target victims, particularly ex-partners.
In the CGS, crime involving family violence was also recorded at a rate of 3959.5 per 100,000 people in the 2024-25 financial year, as opposed to 1812.3 statewide.
This is the highest of all local government areas in CSA’s Loddon Mallee region.
“Family violence statistics are always high within the CGS and we have seen that pattern continue throughout recent report,” Sgt Clark said.
“Maryborough Police are proactive in our management of this type of offending, working with external support agencies to assist victims and stop continuation.”
However, CSA said the CGS had a decrease in total victim reports, with 716 people recorded as victims of crime, following 754 in 2024.
Sgt Clark said the increase of local police presence in recent years, in addition to continuous operations, are the main driver of areas where there is decreased offending.
“These operations cover a range of policing areas such as traffic and crime related offending,” she said.
“We also have dedicated personnel working behind the scenes in areas such as family violence, mental health and criminal investigations.
“All crime is of importance to Maryborough Police, with our aim to prevent and prosecute any offending that occurs when possible.”