Crime Prevention and Safety

Council involvement in community safety and crime prevention initiatives is often in partnership with police and other government and non-government organisations. Crime prevention and community safety initiatives that councils work on include:

• CCTV
• Domestic violence prevention
• Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
• Graffiti management
• Lighting and wayfinding
• Terrorism and crowded places management
• Implementing the Child Safe Standards
• Responding to homelessness

Current Initiatives

The Local Government Crime Prevention and Safety Network meets four times a year to share information about best-practice crime prevention in the community. To join this email list, contact Karen Rae.

Crime prevention and safety is also an integral consideration in the work of the NSW Night Time Economy Councils' Committee.

 For the first time local government has been noted in a Commonwealth counter-terrorism strategy or plan under the Federal Government’s 2017 Australia’s Strategy for Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism (nationalsecurity.gov.au). In recognition of this, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice held a Local Government Crowded Places Forum in November 2021.

In 2019, five councils across Australia trialed programs to contribute to the Department of Social Services’ Local Government Prevention of Violence Against Women Toolkit, housed on the Our Watch website. LGNSW member councils also resolved at the 2016 Annual Conference to develop and implement specific family and domestic violence policy and procedures, and adopt a zero-tolerance of domestic violence in all forms.

LGNSW and the other LG Associations in Australia have partnered with Our Watch to work on the Local Government "Preventing Violence Against Women Workforce Development Project". We are providing Our Watch input into the best way to upskill the large local government workforce to prevent violence against women and prevent domestic and family violence.

The NSW Collaboration on the Primary Prevention of Gender Based Violence is a Community of Practice jointly chaired by Parramatta Council and Inner West Council staff. Members include councils, state agencies and NGOs. The Collaboration brings together organisations working in the primary prevention of gender-based violence in NSW to share information, learning, resources and challenges from their work.

Please email Karen Rae if you would like to join the next meeting.

Submissions

LGNSW makes regular submissions to the state and federal governments, plus other agencies, to advocate on behalf of the interests of local government and their communities when it comes to community safety and crime prevention issues.

Please visit our submissions page for more details. 

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