Overall crime in the state increased by 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to June, resulting in 552,228 criminal offences recorded, according to crime statistics released on Thursday.
While this is the highest level in the past decade, Victoria Police said the crime rate - an increase of 6.7 per cent per 100,000 people - ranks fifth highest in the same period.
Crimes committed by children aged 10 to 17 and youth offenders aged 18 to 24 rose to 49,135 incidents, marking a 12.4 per cent increase year-on-year.
The overall number of crimes committed increased by 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to June. (David Gray/AAP PHOTOS)
Child crime reached its highest level in 12 years, with those aged between 14 and 17 responsible for the most offences in that category, a 23 per cent increase for that age group.
Two major police operations targeting youth gangs, home burglaries and car thefts resulted in more than 3150 arrests over the past year.
Robberies remain the top category among child offending followed by car thefts, burglaries and assaults.
Opportunistic young thieves are driving the high number of aggravated residential burglaries which increased by 18 per cent to 6445 homes, mainly through targeting unlocked dwellings.
Despite that, the total number of Victorian homes being broken into remains well below levels from earlier in the past decade, police said.
Retail store thefts increased by almost 8000 to 32,540 offences, with shop steals reaching record highs as inflation, cost-of-living pressures and high interest rates continue to bite.
Alcohol remains the most frequently stolen item followed by groceries, clothing and toiletries, and staff are increasingly bearing the brunt of violent threats.
Every five minutes, police are being called to a family violence incident as the scourge reaches a record high.
There were 98,816 family violence episodes, a 6.1 per cent increase year-on-year, while the number of family violence order breaches also increased by 3.2 per cent to 55,640.
"Around a quarter of all crime can be directly attributed to the scourge of family violence," Victoria Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Chris Gilbert said.
Police made 68,579 arrests and laid 189,666 charges over the past year.
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