The City of Bunbury has completed surveying our community to identify the priorities related to Community Safety and Crime Prevention.

Thank you to all that participated in the surveys and focus groups. We received a huge response that will ensure the City can focus on the genuine concerns of our community.

The Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan 2023-2028 was endorsed by Council on Tuesday 17 October 2023. We now have a quality plan that we can use to guide and inform our decision making over the next five years and it contains clear actions and outcomes that we will be working to achieve and communicate back to our community.

To formulate this Plan, the City collaborated with Edith Cowan University (ECU) to enable a rigorous and independent research study. The primary objective of this research endeavour was to understand the impact of crime within the boundaries of the City of Bunbury and to evaluate the concerns expressed by the community. The research was guided by the following questions:

• What is the prevalence of crime and antisocial behaviour in the City of Bunbury?

• What are community perceptions of crime, anti-social behaviour and community safety?

• What are stakeholder perceptions of crime, antisocial behaviour and community safety?

The research included input from over 200 participants who completed an online survey, 35 engaged residents who actively participated in community focus groups, and 17 stakeholders who took part in in-depth interviews with the research team.

The participants in the survey represented a broad demographic spectrum, consisting of 224 community members. This diverse representation ensured a comprehensive assessment of community perceptions.

A Community Safety & Advisory Group (CSAG) was formed to provide subject matter expertise and insight. The CSAG also included community members and emergency service agencies who are directly impacted by the plan and resulting actions so were very involved in all stages of the plans development.

The desired outcomes that were identified in the plan are:

• Safe Spaces

• Activated Spaces

• An Informed and Engaged Community.

This plan belongs to the community of the City of Bunbury and we will be working hard to achieve these desired outcomes and the actions that were identified to assist in this journey.