A resident in Melbourne north says a brief encounter with masked youths has left his family fearful about feeling safe at home.
Qaisar, who spoke to a Current Affair, said he had just returned from a night out with mates when he noticed a car stopped outside his house with four young men inside.
“It was dark, my driveway light had come on so I could barely see,” he said.
Still speaking to a friend on the phone, Qaisar said that the vehicle looked parked in the wrong direction, so he moved towards it for a better look.
He said he could make out “two guys standing in balaclavas”, before the car took off.
Qaisar said he attempted to get the car recorded on camera as it drove away, but he was so shaken he couldn’t even change the functionality of the camera from photo to video mode.
“I was so nervous, so scared, so afraid that I couldn’t even change the camera from photo to video,” he said. Masked men emerged from the car soon after, as he was assaulted outside of his house.
“I’m left wondering if my family will be safe in our own home,” he said. The event reported is occurring against a backdrop of growing worry about violent offending and the perception of safety.
The latest annual crime statistics released by the Crime Statistics Agency, reported, show that there was a record number of criminal incidents reported by Victoria Police for the year to June 2025 at 483,583, which reflects a jump of 18.3% on the previous year.
Though theft offenses have been cited as one of the key factors that have contributed to the rise, it has been reported that instances of knife and machete crimes have become a flashpoint that has revived calls for bail and repeat offender reform.
Through the same report, it was indicated that 5,400 repeat offenders were responsible for 40% of crimes.
National statistics also demonstrate the complexity of the youth crime issue.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 8,157 Victorians aged 10 to 17 were proceeded against by police, with youth offending comprising 13% of total offenders.
As a mitigation strategy, the Allan government has used arms control measures, such as a ban on machetes across the state of Victoria.
According to Victoria Police, machetes are prohibited weapons, effective from September 2025, and to possess, sell, or trade them is a crime that attracts a two year jail sentence.
The Victorian State Government reported in September that over 1,300 dangerous weapons had been handed in in the first two weeks of the machete amnesty, and these anonymous deliveries would finish on November 2025 at 45 police stations.
The Victorian Government amnesty for machetes has since passed, with the state now saying it is illegal to own, use, carry, transport, buy or sell a machete without a valid exemption or approval.
