A recent report has cast a shadow over Melbourne, revealing that residents believe their city has regressed in the past year, primarily due to a troubling increase in violent crime. This sentiment has been captured in a study by the Committee for Melbourne in collaboration with Ipsos, highlighting a shift in perception among locals who now regard their city as the least desirable place to live in Australia.
The 2025 Living in Melbourne Report has brought to light a significant rise in concern over violence and anti-social behavior. In the span of just one year, anxiety over these issues has surged from 29 percent to 41 percent. Many inhabitants express frustration as the media frequently reports incidents of home invasions, carjackings, and armed robberies, often involving dangerous weapons like machetes and knives.
As reported by the Herald Sun, the study participants emphasized that ‘feeling safe’ is the most critical factor in deciding where to reside. Nonetheless, the report reveals a stark reality: half of Melbourne’s population is unable to afford living in their preferred neighborhoods, attributing this to the escalating cost of living.
Many residents said they are fed up with daily reports of home invasions, carjackings, armed robberies, and machete and knife attacks dominating the headlines.
According to the Herald Sun, participants ranked ‘feeling safe’ as the single most important factor when choosing where to live.
However, the report also found that half of Melburnians can’t afford to live in their preferred suburb due to soaring cost-of-living pressures.
Melbourne once topped the EIU’s Global Liveability Index every year from 2011 to 2017, before losing the number one spot to Vienna in 2018.
Since then, the city has continued to slide, ranking fourth in the 2025 global list.
Committee for Melbourne chief executive Scott Veenker said the city was ‘at a crossroads’.
Riot police on alert during yet another violent protest in Melbourne
An innocent woman is stabbed in broad daylight in Melbourne
‘Residents remain proud of their city, but growing concerns around cost of living, safety and housing affordability are eroding confidence in our future,’ Mr Veenker told the Herald Sun.
‘The proportion of people who think life here is getting worse has jumped significantly, and there’s a growing number who are unsure about what’s ahead. That uncertainty should concern us all.’
Mr Veenker also called for urgent action on safety, affordability, housing quality and transport.
‘These are the fundamentals on which everything else rests.’
He criticised the state government for failing to respond after left-wing protesters allegedly attacked police during violent demonstrations in the CBD on Sunday.
‘Really disappointing,’ Mr Veenker told 3AW when asked about the lack of comment from Jacinta Allan.
‘The city is at a real tipping point… the future isn’t looking bright unless we make some changes.
‘We need strong leadership here… Melburnians have had enough. We really want to be proud of our city.
A machete brawler at Northland shopping centre
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has been slammed for saying nothing about Sunday’s protests
This month it was revealed conditions outside the North Richmond injecting room had worsened, with one image of a zombified junkie laying on grass with his hands down his pants causing major alarm
‘We want to feel confident that we can go into the city and go about our everyday lives without worrying about or hearing about new crime that’s sprung up there.’
Other alarming findings in the 2025 Living in Melbourne Report show that 35 percent of Melburnians believe the city has worsened over the past year.
Resident satisfaction has also plummeted, with the number of people who don’t identify as Melburnians almost doubling in the past 12 months.
Only half of the study’s participants said they felt connected to their local community.
The top issue for 54 percent of Melbourne residents was the cost of living, with a third saying they are ‘just about getting by’ financially, while 20 percent said they are ‘actively struggling’.
‘The findings paint a picture of a highly liveable city whose resident experience is being steadily eroded by these mounting challenges,’ the report stated.
Just last week, Melbourne saw a man in a suit smoking a cigarette cause mayhem in the city with an imitation firearm after allegedly going on a carjacking rampage.
Days later, disturbing CCTV footage showed an innocent man being stabbed from behind by a seemingly unhinged homeless woman, Lauren Darul.
This month, conditions outside the North Richmond injecting room were revealed to have worsened, with one shocking image showing a ‘zombified’ drug user lying on the grass with his hands down his pants.
And last month, just 29 days after Premier Jacinta Allan’s much-touted machete ban came into force, another teenager was allegedly hacked to death in Morwell.
Armed robberies come as normal in Melbourne
Kaiden Morgan, 18, became the third teenager killed in Septmber by alleged machete-wielding attackers
A woman furiously smashes through the glass doors of a designer clothing store in the city
Kaiden Morgan, 18, became the third teenager killed in a machete attack in September.
Since the ban was first announced in March, Melbourne has been rocked by at least half a dozen high-profile machete attacks and murders.
Meanwhile, violent crime continues to spiral. A pregnant woman and her partner were allegedly murdered in Glen Waverley in August, his decapitated head reportedly placed on a stake, while suspected cop-killer Dezi Freeman remains on the run.
Add countless home invasions, armed robberies, assaults and high-speed car chases, and it’s clear Melbourne is enduring one of its worst crime waves in decades.
Knife crime in Victoria jumped 11.5 per cent in 2024–25, with police seizing nearly 11,000 bladed weapons. Overall crime rose 15.7 per cent, while hospital admissions for stab wounds have doubled in a decade.
Youth offending among 10- to 17-year-olds spiked 18 per cent in early 2025, with children increasingly involved in armed robberies and aggravated burglaries.
The number of youth gangs has soared 30 per cent since 2019, and repeat child offenders now account for 40 per cent of all youth crime.
Last month, terrified Melburnians were reminded of the Bourke Street Mall massacre when a group of teens in a stolen BMW tore through the CBD before fleeing into the Emporium shopping centre.
Even retail crime has exploded, with brazen ram-raids on high-end boutiques becoming commonplace. In one viral video, a woman smashed through a designer store’s doors, stole several items, and walked out unchallenged.
