Australia’s vehicle theft rate dropped 2% in the year to last September and was down 10% compared with five years ago, according to the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council.

The decrease is largely due to a 7% fall in “short-term heavy/other vehicle” thefts.

Victoria, the worst state for vehicle theft, recorded significant drops in the second half of the year, with a 14% fall in short-term thefts and a 7% drop in profit-motivated thefts, giving an overall decline of 13% for the year.

However, the state still leads the nation in passenger and light commercial (PLC) vehicle theft, with 10,796 stolen in the year, comprising 31% of all PLC thefts.

About 33% of all profit-motivated thefts occurred in Victoria, totalling 3072 incidents.

Nationally, PLC theft dropped 1% to 43,866 crimes, motorcycle theft fell 3% to 8026 and heavy/other vehicle thefts were down 7% to 2402.

Profit-motivated motorcycle theft increased 2%, with Queensland recording a 15% rise that was partially offset by continuing improvement in Victoria.

Short-term theft increased 21% in Queensland and 3% in NSW. WA recorded the greatest increase in profit-motivated thefts, up 4%.