Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have recorded the highest number of incidents in six major crime categories across New South Wales, according to the latest official data. The sobering figures place the region at the top of the state for offences including sexual assault and motor vehicle theft.
Regional Crime Hotspot Revealed in Latest Data
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) quarterly report, covering crimes up to September 2025, shows the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie statistical area led the state in several key areas. The region recorded the highest counts for sexual assaults (782), break and enter dwelling (1334), break and enter non-dwelling (628), and malicious damage to property (2866).
It also emerged as a significant hotspot for motor vehicle crime, with the most stolen vehicles in NSW (1182) and the highest number of thefts from motor vehicles (2563). Notably, the area bucked a statewide regional trend which saw a 10.4 per cent drop in theft from motor vehicles.
Consistently High Rates Despite Population Size
While the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region is the sixth largest statistical area in the report, with a population of approximately 405,000, it regularly outperformed larger metropolitan areas in crime counts. It surpassed regions including the Inner South West (population 621,000), Parramatta (540,000), and Blacktown (438,000).
The region also secured the second-highest number of incidents in three other categories: non-domestic violence related assault (2078), steal from a retail store (2145), and sexual touching, sexual act and other sexual offences (502).
Expert Analysis and Statewide Trends
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald provided context, stating that while the region's rates were higher than the state average for some crimes, it was not considered among the very highest crime areas. "I think the rate is high for some offences - stealing from a car is concerningly high, while the car theft and the burglary rates are also about 50 per cent higher than average," Ms Fitzgerald said.
She added, "That's not the end of the ledger you'd like to be at. But it's not as high as some parts of the state."
There was a slight silver lining, with the region recording decreases of 9.6 per cent in malicious damage to property and 6.6 per cent in retail theft, despite still leading the state in those categories. Most other offence categories showed little to no change from 2024 figures.
The broader Hunter Valley region, excluding Newcastle, saw significant drops in several crime types, including other stealing offences (-24.2 per cent) and break and enter non-dwelling (-14.1 per cent). However, it recorded the second-highest number of sexual assaults in the state (614).
In terms of the most serious crimes, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie has recorded five murders in 2025, while the Hunter Valley has reported one.
Across NSW, the two-year trend showed significant declines in seven of the thirteen major crime categories. The BOCSAR report noted these improvements were "largely driven by substantial and widespread reductions across regional NSW," which reported decreases in eight of the thirteen major categories with no increases.
Regional NSW saw notable drops in:
- Break and enter dwelling (12.2 per cent)
- Break and enter non-dwelling (11.1 per cent)
- Robbery (10.9 per cent)
- Malicious damage to property (7.8 per cent)
NSW Police were contacted for comment regarding the statistics for the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region.
