Many communities and local governments around Australia are taking action to improve the safety for their local areas and for the people who live there.

Community safety is about people feeling safe in their own community where they live, work, play and attend school.

A community is safe when everyone who lives in the community decides what they do, where they work, who they meet, and where they go without being afraid of becoming a victim of crime or feeling unsafe.

The role of Indigenous councils

Local governments have an important role in making their local government area a safer place for people to live, work, go to school and socialise.

Involving the community

A local government’s success in helping make the community safer depends on how well it knows, understands and responds to community concerns and community ideas about public safety.

All community residents and groups play a role in making their community a safer place.

Planning for community safety

Planning for the community’s safety is very complex and is made up of many different ideas and actions. Community safety is not just about crime prevention, it’s also about creating safe and healthy public, community and home environments.

Community safety audits

A safety audit looks at what makes a place safe or unsafe and how to improve safety in that place. It is a practical tool used for collecting information about the areas of the local community that make people feel unsafe. A safety audit also helps council with community safety planning, encouraging suggestions from community members about changes that would make them feel safer.

Community safety case studies

To assist councils with the community planning process, several case studies have been developed. These case studies are similar to what other local governments are doing.

Making public spaces safer through design

People’s behaviour and feelings about their safety can be affected by the design of their surroundings – the places they live in. The best way that a Local Government can improve the safety of public space and facilities in their community is to use crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles in the planning, design, construction and management of public space and community facilities.