Crime prevention and community safety

Content: Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan | Safe community compact | Safer by design | |Alcohol free zones | Domestic violence | Safety audits |  Safe Community Action Team (SCAT)

We are dedicated to promoting community safety and work closely with police and other agencies to help address issues relating to crime and other anti-social behaviour.

Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan

The Safe Community Action Team (SCAT) officer, in consultation with the SCAT Committee and the general community, have developed a three year city-wide Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan. Download this plan on the right hand side of the page.

Safe Community Compact
The Safe Community Compact was developed in 1999 and identifies the most pressing law and safety needs for the Wollongong community. The compact then implements strategies and processes to address those needs.

Current priority areas:

• drug and alcohol
• public space
• young people
• women and family
• promotion

Past priority areas: 

• drug and alcohol related issues
• Summer Bus
• Alcohol Accord
• young people, public space and crime
• Community Arts Program
• Fear of Crime
• regional coordination and information sharing

Projects to address these issues have included: 

• establishment of committees and teams including the Youth Advisory Committee and the Drug Information Exchange
• Safe Party Kit and Are you responsible? Campaign
• crime prevention in schools
• place projects in Port Kembla and Warrawong
• Community Safety Week
• Port Kembla Community Safety Project
• Warrawong Community Safety Project
• Reclaim the Night
• Safe Community Compact
• Fear of Crime Projects
• Children and family Services
• Early Intervention Guide
• hygiene control
• needle disposal
• food (health)
• health (ie Legionella)
• Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter Service

Safer by design - Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
We have a crime prevention policy to address situational crime. Situational crime prevention makes crime more difficult to commit and less rewarding. It incorporates strategies designed to enhance the physical environment to improve people’s feelings of being safe. These may include better lighting and visibility, the installation of security systems and other measures to increase household and business security. Major developments in the city are assesed by these principles.

Alcohol free zones
Alcohol free zones are established at the request of the public, police or councillors, to prevent public drinking on streets and footpaths within designated areas. These zones need to be endorsed by Council and placed on public exhibition before they are ratified. They usually span three years.

The current alcohol free zones are located in:

• Wollongong CBD and foreshore
• Dapto CBD
• Thirroul CBD and beach
• Warrawong CBD
• Helensburgh
• Berkeley

Domestic violence
We are a member of the Illawarra Committee Against Domestic Violence. This is an interagency committee comprising police, Council, the courts and other government and non-government agencies who work in the area of domestic violence. We've helped establish and run two domestic violence forums, one in 2005 and one in 2006 with over 200 people. We'll continue to hold these forums.

Safety audits
Safety audits are conducted by the Safe Community Action Team officer at the request of the community, police or other relevant organisations and agencies who feel a particular area is the target of anti social behaviour, public drinking or vandalism. Safety audits are performed using 'Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design' principles and recommendations are distributed to the relevant parties for action.

Safe Community Action Team
Together with Safe Community Action Teams across NSW, we attend and arrange conferences and come together to provide a regional response to common community safety issues we face.

The Wollongong SCAT was established following the National Crime Prevention Conference in September 1991. SCAT began as a Wollongong City Council initiative and is now a fully operational Council Committee under the Local Government Act. We were the first in the state to form this committee. 

Wollongong SCAT aims to reduce crime in the Illawarra through a program of awareness and self-help. The SCAT philosophy is to develop and successfully implement short and long term strategies, so that residents will both feel safer and be safer living in Wollongong.

The team consists of 20 representatives from a wide range of community and industry organisations. These include: 

• NSW Police Service
• Community members
• Illawarra Business Chamber
• service groups
• religious organisations
• government departments
• Wollongong City Council

SCAT objectives:

• to develop and implement short and long term strategies so that people will feel safe in Wollongong
• to reduce generally the community's fear of becoming a victim of crime
• identify and analyse the extent of crime and community concern about safety in Wollongong
• empower community groups to initiate and participate in making Wollongong a safer place
• make recommendations and representations to local, state and federal governments on issues of community safety
• encourage the development of policies by local government and other appropriate authorities on issues of community safety
• map SCAT's achievements/strategies/approaches to crime prevention, to evaluate what has been done and to publish evaluation/achievements