Crime & safety
The authoritative source for crime in NSW is the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which publishes recorded incidents reported to or detected by NSW Police. Below are Bellingen's 12 major offences for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026 (the year ending March 2026), with each rate (per 100,000 people) placed next to the NSW rate. The 'vs NSW' column is Bellingen's rate divided by the NSW rate: 1.0 means the same as NSW, below 1.0 is lower than NSW, above 1.0 is higher.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Rate per 100,000
- Crime counts adjusted for population, so different-sized places can be compared.
- Compared to NSW (×)
- How the local rate compares to the NSW average (1.0 = the same).
- Recorded incident
- An incident reported to police — not a proven charge or conviction.
- Major offence categories
- The high-level offence groups official rates are calculated for.
- Police Area Command / Police District
- The local NSW Police command responsible for an area.
- BOCSAR
- The official source of NSW recorded-crime data.
- Reporting period
- April 2025 to March 2026 (12 months)Latest BOCSAR recorded-crime release.
- How Bellingen compares
- 9 of 12 major offences above the NSW rateThe three below the NSW rate are other stealing offences, steal from motor vehicle, and steal from retail store.
- Most common offence
- Malicious damage to property (99 incidents)The highest-count major offence in the period, at 745.6 per 100,000 — about 1.34× the NSW rate.
- Small-count caution
- Rates move sharply on a few incidentsBellingen's population (~13,300) is small, so a handful of extra or fewer incidents can swing a per-100,000 rate a lot year to year. Read these figures as counts first.
- Local policing
- Coffs–Clarence Police DistrictThe NSW Police district covering Bellingen Shire, headquartered at Coffs Harbour. Confirm exact boundaries on the BOCSAR mapping tool.
| Offence | Incidents | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malicious damage to property | 99 | 745.6 | 554.7 | 1.34× |
| Domestic violence related assault | 62 | 466.9 | 451.9 | 1.03× |
| Non-DV related assault | 59 | 444.3 | 401.8 | 1.11× |
| Other stealing offences | 54 | 406.7 | 463.1 | 0.88× |
| Steal from motor vehicle | 37 | 278.7 | 295.5 | 0.94× |
| Break & enter (dwelling) | 34 | 256.1 | 212.3 | 1.21× |
| Motor vehicle theft | 26 | 195.8 | 171.2 | 1.14× |
| Sexual assault | 23 | 173.2 | 154.4 | 1.12× |
| Break & enter (non-dwelling) | 17 | 128.0 | 91.8 | 1.39× |
| Sexual touching & other sexual offences | 16 | 120.5 | 104.1 | 1.16× |
| Steal from retail store | 14 | 105.4 | 372.5 | 0.28× |
| Robbery | 4 | 30.1 | 20.6 | 1.46× |
Major offences in Bellingen vs the NSW rate, per 100,000 population, for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026. Source: BOCSAR LGA & NSW recorded-crime tables. 'vs NSW' = Bellingen rate ÷ NSW rate.
BOCSAR calculates rates only for these 'major offences', so high-volume justice offences (e.g. breach of bail or AVO) aren't rate-compared here. These are recorded incidents, not convictions, and counts move with population and reporting. Because Bellingen's counts are small, individual rates are volatile from year to year — robbery, for example, had only 4 recorded incidents in this period, but that still produced a rate above the NSW average. For the latest figures, trends and other offence types, use BOCSAR's tools below.
Sources — check it yourself
- BOCSAR — Bellingen LGA crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — NSW recorded-crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — Crime statistics by LGA · Updated quarterly
- BOCSAR — Crime Mapping Tool (compare to NSW)
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.