Source: The Mercury, 10 January, 1997, p.7 Source: The Mercury, 10 January, 1997, p.7
ABOUT 350 cars are stolen in Australia every day, feeding a billion dollar industry. However, it is not rich business leaders with expensive cars who suffer but battlers. An Australian Institute of Criminology report said car thefts were hitting battlers hardest. The report said typical car thieves were amateurs, usually teenage male joyriders. One in every five thefts was from car parks but 85% of cars were found by police. Institute director Dr Adam Graycar said new models were virtually unstealable because of advances in security technology. He said cars 15 to 17 years old were a prime target. The rate of thefts has doubled in the past 20 years and is worse than in the United States, Canada and Germany but not as bad as in England and Wales. In 1975-76, about 56,000 car thefts were reported in Australia. Last year, it was more than 126,000. In Tasmania, 2528 cars were stolen last year compared with 1024 stolen 20 years ago. Tasmania has the lowest number of cars stolen per 100,000 people.
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