Melbourne

Is Melbourne safe?

Yes. Melbourne is a safe city to visit, and very few visitors meet serious crime. The Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 92 homicide victims across Victoria in 2025, about 1.3 per 100,000 people and 18% fewer than in 2024. The US State Department keeps Australia at Level 1, its lowest advisory. Our Australia page covers the rest of the country.

Melbourne has, though, spent two years arguing about crime. Car thefts, home invasions and robberies by groups of teenagers rose sharply in 2024 and early 2025, and the state government responded with what it called the toughest bail laws in Australia and a ban on machetes in March 2025. We score Melbourne 83 out of 100, a little below Sydney (86) and Toronto (84).

The youth crime debate: what the numbers show

Most of the offences behind the headlines happen in suburban homes and driveways, not where visitors spend their time. In Greater Melbourne, police recorded 6,246 aggravated residential burglaries (break-ins while someone is home) in the year to June 2025. The Premier's office said 64% of alleged aggravated burglary offenders were under 20, many of them targeting car keys.

The latest Crime Statistics Agency data show the trend turning. In the year to June 2026, aggravated home burglaries in Greater Melbourne fell to 4,520 and robberies to 2,469, down 26% on a year earlier. Car crime remains high: 25,488 vehicles were stolen and 65,300 cars broken into across the metro area in a year.

For a visitor, that translates into simple steps. If you rent a car or an apartment with parking, leave nothing visible inside and keep keys away from the front door. Hand over a phone or bag if threatened. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary also says terrorists are likely to try to attack in Australia, as the December 2025 Bondi attack in Sydney showed, so expect police at big events such as the Australian Open and the AFL Grand Final.

Theft and scams around the city

Robbery runs at about 45 per 100,000 people across Greater Melbourne, roughly twice the Greater Sydney rate, and much higher per resident in the City of Melbourne council area, where 338 robberies were recorded in the latest year among 195,000 residents and millions of visitors. Phone snatching around Flinders Street station, Bourke Street Mall and Southern Cross station is the usual pattern. Pickpocketing is far rarer than in Paris or Barcelona.

Scams are mostly online: fake rentals, ticket resales for the tennis or football, and parcel-delivery texts. Buy tickets through official sellers only.

After dark in the CBD

Melbourne's centre is lively at night and most of it is fine to walk. Gallup's 2025 report finds 66% of Australians feel safe walking alone at night, a lower share than in Vietnam or Singapore, and Melbourne's problems at night are concentrated. The City of Melbourne records about 2,800 assaults outside the family a year, mainly near late-night venues around King Street and the Swanston and Bourke Street area after midnight. There have also been knife incidents involving teenage groups, which is why machetes are now prohibited weapons.

Stay on the busy, lit streets, avoid arguments in taxi queues, and take a taxi or ride app home rather than cutting through parks late at night. Night Network trains run through Friday and Saturday nights; sit near other passengers.

Trams, roads and hook turns

The Transport Accident Commission counted 134 road deaths in Melbourne in 2025, about 2.5 per 100,000 people, and 291 across Victoria, including 52 pedestrians. Deaths in Melbourne were down 13% in 2026 as of early October. Traffic drives on the left.

Trams are the main hazard visitors underestimate. They are quiet, they have right of way, and in parts of the CBD drivers must make a "hook turn", turning right from the left lane to keep tracks clear. When stepping off a tram, check that cars have stopped behind it. Cyclists should watch for car doors and tram tracks, which catch thin tyres. Most visitors need no car: the free tram zone covers the CBD and Docklands.

Heat, smoke and thunderstorm asthma

Melbourne's weather changes fast. Summer days can pass 40°C, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary warns that extreme heat is a serious risk in Australia. Bushfires burn in the hills around the city from November to February and smoke can sit over Melbourne for days. In normal years the air is clean: Australia's PM2.5PM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary averaged 4.5 µg/m³ in 2024, within the WHO guideline.

A risk particular to Melbourne is epidemic thunderstorm asthma. During the grass pollen season, from October to December, storms can burst pollen into fine particles that set off sudden asthma attacks in many people at once, including people who have only had hay fever. If you have asthma or hay fever, carry a reliever inhaler and check the Victorian forecast on storm days. Tap water is safe and hospitals are excellent; dial 000 in an emergency.

How we scored it

Health and environment (91) and traffic safety (88) are Melbourne's strongest factors, and violent crime (86) stays high despite the burglary surge. Theft (78), night safety (78) and natural hazards (78) pull the score down, because of car crime, late-night assaults in the CBD, heat, fire and pollen storms. For comparison, see Singapore.