Australia’s safest suburbs

At the other end of the index, the suburbs with the lowest overall safety scores are concentrated in Queensland and Victoria. Townsville, in North Queensland, ranks as the least safe suburb, with a high rate of property crime. The city also records relatively low or moderate scores across natural disaster exposure, building resilience, and disaster preparedness, contributing to its overall low index score of 41.65. 

Other areas in Queensland, including Rockhampton, Cairns and Toowoomba, also feature among the lowest-ranked suburbs, while parts of Victoria, such as Yarra, Melbourne, Monash, Darebin and Yarra Ranges, round out the list. Across these suburbs, the combination of lower scores across all factors places them at the bottom of the safest suburb ranking. 

Suburbs with the lowest property crime

Looking specifically at property crime, measured by reported offences such as burglary, theft, property damage, and arson, gives a sense of how secure residents are likely to feel in their homes. Ku-ring-gai in NSW tops the list, with the lowest average yearly rate of 451 offences per 100,000 people. 

Other suburbs performing strongly include Wanneroo and Joondalup in northern Perth, WA, and Hornsby and Camden in Sydney, all recording positive property crime scores of over 98 out of 100. Overall, the top 10 suburbs consistently have low rates of property crime, highlighting areas where residents can expect higher levels of day-to-day security in their homes. 

Suburbs with the highest property crime rate

At the other end of the scale, Queensland suburbs dominate the list of the highest property crime rates in Australia. Cairns tops the chart with a score of zero, recording an average of over 16,000 offences per 100,000 people each year, followed by Townsville with more than 15,500, reinforcing their reputations as areas with high crime. Rockhampton, in Central Queensland, rounds out the top three, showing that elevated property crime isn’t limited to the far north. 

Other Queensland areas, such as Logan, Brisbane, Mackay, Toowoomba, and Ipswich, also feature, while Victoria is represented by Melbourne and the inner-city suburb of Yarra. These areas report higher property crime rates, reflecting the mix of dense residential and commercial zones where theft and burglary are more common. 

Suburbs with the fewest natural disasters 

The index also looked at areas’ exposure to natural disasters, including bushfires, severe storms, earthquakes, and floods. 

Suburbs with the lowest natural disaster exposure are found across Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales, often in coastal or well-developed metropolitan areas. Hobsons Bay in Victoria ranks lowest overall, with moderate storm activity and fire danger, historically recording 18 bushfires since 1898 and 140 severe storms between 2010 and 2021. Redland in Queensland follows closely, with 108 bushfires and 74 storms, including four rare waterspouts — tornado-like columns of rotating air over water — while Logan has experienced 128 bushfires and 224 severe storms, plus one tornado. Despite these events, both suburbs remain at a comparatively low risk. 

Several New South Wales suburbs, including Ryde, Willoughby, Randwick, and Georges River, also rank low on this factor, showing that many inner- and middle-ring Sydney suburbs face fewer severe weather events. Coffs Harbour and the Sunshine Coast round out the list, where exposure to storms or floods is present, but overall disaster risk remains relatively low. 

Suburbs with the most natural disasters

While some suburbs face relatively low natural disaster exposure, others, often in regional or coastal hubs where multiple hazards converge, are much more at risk.  

The Central Coast in New South Wales tops the list for its particularly high flood risk. The area has recorded 68 flood events since 1989, alongside moderate storm and bushfire activity. Armadale in Western Australia follows, with bushfires dominating its risk profile, recording a staggering 2,427 events since 1989. Monash in Victoria faces severe storm exposure, with 1,109 storms between 2010 and 2021, with hail posing the biggest risk, including storms with hail stones the size of golf balls¹https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-19/melbourne-weather-hail-hits-outer-suburbs-fire-at-french-island/11880412. 

Larger urban centres such as Brisbane, Townsville, and Darwin also appear high on the index, reflecting the reality that both metropolitan and regional areas can experience overlapping hazards, including storms, floods, and fire danger. Meanwhile, Melton in Victoria and Shoalhaven in New South Wales round out the top 10, where elevated bushfire and flood exposure contribute to higher overall risk despite limited earthquake activity. 

Suburbs with the lowest concentration of older homes 

The index also considered building age, since older homes may be less resilient to natural disasters and weathering, and can pose higher safety risks. Suburbs with the fewest pre-1980 residential buildings tend to have newer housing stock, often reflecting more recently developed areas. 

Wyndham in Victoria has the lowest concentration, with just 11 older homes per 1,000 people, followed by Sydney City with 17 per 1,000 and Maribyrnong with 19 per 1,000. Other areas, such as Casey, Camden, and Canada Bay, also rank among the suburbs with the newest housing, indicating modern construction is more common in these areas. 

Even suburbs further afield, like Wanneroo in Western Australia, show lower proportions of older homes than parts of Victoria and New South Wales, suggesting that newer housing is a nationwide factor in assessing local safety and disaster preparedness. 

Suburbs with the highest concentration of older homes 

On the other hand, suburbs with older homes can offer character, but also come with their challenges. Whitehorse in Victoria tops the list as the Australian suburb with the highest concentration of older homes, with 292 pre-1980 buildings per 1,000 people. Its score of 0/100 highlights that, compared with other suburbs, Whitehorse’s homes, which have historical, architectural, social, technological, cultural and/or scientific significance, are particularly exposed to natural hazards. 

Many of the suburbs with the highest concentration of older homes are in Greater Melbourne, highlighting the city’s long-established residential areas. Alongside Whitehorse, suburbs such as Darebin, Banyule, and Monash also feature prominently, showing that older housing and the conservation and enhancement of these buildings are critical and widespread across Melbourne’s established suburbs. 

Outside Victoria, Charles Sturt in South Australia ranks seventh with 264 older homes per 1,000 people, showing that higher concentrations of older housing are not just an east-coast phenomenon. 

While older homes often have charm and larger plots, their age can mean more maintenance, outdated construction, and lower resilience to extreme weather, requiring extra care to manage potential risks. 

Suburbs most prepared for disaster response 

A suburb’s safety can also be measured by its emergency and disaster response. Areas with more SES facilities but fewer past DRFA activations (Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, which provide state aid after major incidents) are generally well-prepared for disasters, yet haven’t historically needed as much state assistance. 

Queensland dominates the list of suburbs with the most equipment for disaster scenarios, reflecting both the high number of SES facilities and the lower frequency of DRFA activations in these areas. Mackay tops the ranking, with 15 SES facilities and just 18 activations, followed closely by Bundaberg and Fraser Coast.  

Outside Queensland, the Unincorporated ACT appears mid-table, while South Australia has lower representation, with Port Adelaide Enfield and Onkaparinga rounding out the top 10. These areas also record low rates of DRFA activations, suggesting they have generally been safe from major disasters.  

Suburbs least prepared for disaster response 

In contrast to the best-prepared suburbs, several areas in Victoria and New South Wales are less equipped to handle disasters. Yarra Ranges in Victoria ranks lowest, with 46 instances requiring DRFA intervention, likely due to having only three SES facilities to support the community. 

NSW suburbs such as Port Macquarie-Hastings, Central Coast, and Shoalhaven also appear, highlighting regional communities where emergencies occur relatively often, and local SES facilities may be stretched, potentially affecting recovery times. 

Victoria’s Cardinia, Mornington Peninsula and Ballarat also appear, along with NSW’s Mid-Coast, Penrith and Shellharbour. Across these suburbs, the combination of fewer SES facilities and moderate-to-high activation counts results in lower overall scores, highlighting areas where residents may experience longer response times and greater reliance on external support during emergencies.