They don't steal the car in the driveway. They come inside for the keys
In Melbourne, the car is usually not stolen from the driveway. The offender comes into the house, takes the keys off a hook or a bench, and drives it away. Victoria Police recorded 31,851 motor vehicle thefts in Victoria in the year ending 31 March 2026, the highest since 2001-02, and say up to 40 per cent of stolen cars are taken using key cloning technology — which leaves a large share taken with the owner's own keys. In a Crime Stoppers Victoria and Victoria Police campaign using March 2025 data, eight in ten aggravated burglaries across Victoria were either through an unlocked door or window, or were abandoned once the offender found the home locked. The fix is mostly free: lock the side door, lock the internal garage door, and move the keys out of sight of any window or door.
Why do thieves come inside the house for the keys?
Because a modern car is hard to start without a key and easy to start with one. Victoria Police say up to 40 per cent of vehicles are stolen using key cloning technology (Victoria Police statement on Crime Statistics Agency data, 18 June 2026, year ending 31 March 2026). The rest need the key, and the key is inside the house.
This is why an aggravated burglary and a car theft are so often the same offence. Under Operation Trinity, Victoria Police made more than 1,400 arrests relating to 1,537 burglaries where cars were stolen between March 2023 and June 2024. Twenty offenders were responsible for almost 20 per cent of those offences, and the average age of that group was 15.
Nothing about it is sophisticated. A walk down a side path, a try of a door handle, a look at the bench.
How are they actually getting in?
Not usually by force. A Crime Stoppers Victoria campaign run with Victoria Police, published 16 April 2025 using March 2025 data, broke it down by region:
Region (March 2025 data)Unlocked entry or abandoned attemptShowed forced entryFrankston and Mornington Peninsula82%18%Boroondara, Manningham, Monash, Whitehorse69%14%Kingston, Glen Eira, Bayside65%12%Victoria, all aggravated burglariesabout 80%—
Source: Crime Stoppers Victoria with Victoria Police, published 16 April 2025, March 2025 data.
The same campaign named two entry points people forget: unlocked pet doors, and unlocked garages with an adjoining door into the house. A closed roller door that is not locked is a door you can lift, and the door from the garage into the laundry is usually the weakest lock on the property.
When Victoria Police extended Operation Ignition across Stonnington and Port Phillip on 17 August 2026, after more than 550 arrests since 1 January 2026, Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Densley said offenders "go from car to car until they find one that is unlocked". Houses get worked the same way.
Where should the keys go?
Not on a hook by the front door, not in the bowl on the hall table, not anywhere visible from a window or the glass beside the door.
Keys belong deeper in the house than the entry, or in a fixed safe. If the car has a proximity key, a signal-blocking pouch stops it being relayed from outside, and costs less than a tank of fuel.
Victoria Police advice on preventing car theft, published 17 November 2025 and updated 27 January 2026, is short enough to act on tonight:
Make sure all external doors are locked
Check that all windows are properly secured
Lock internal doors connecting the garage to the house
Remove garage remote controls from vehicles when parked, even in a locked garage
Avoid confrontation with anyone breaking in
Call Triple Zero (000) if an offence is happening, or 131 444 if it has already happened
That last one matters more than anything sold in a shop. The car is insured. You are not.
What actually costs money, and what does not?
FixWhat it doesCostLock the side gate and garage internal door nightlyCloses the two entry points the data namesFreeMove keys out of line of sightDefeats the fishing and the grabFreeTake the garage remote out of the carStops a stolen car becoming a house keyFreeSignal-blocking pouch for a proximity keyStops relay attacksUnder $30Rekey the house to one keyEnds unknown copies$60 first cylinder, $40 afterVehicle deterrent packFitted steering and wheel deterrents$395
A camera belongs here only with a caveat. Cameras record, they do not hold a door shut, and footage at 3am has never returned a car. Fit one for the record. Do not fit one instead of locking the door it points at.
What should a rental provider or property manager do differently?
Two things. At every changeover, rekey rather than collect keys — a returned key set proves nothing about copies. And write the internal garage door into the condition report, because it is the lock nobody inspects and the one the data keeps pointing at. A Safehaus report can form part of a rental provider's records. It is not a certificate and does not make a property secure on its own.
Get a vehicle theft deterrent pack
Fitted vehicle deterrents, $395. One person on the job, no commissions from any supplier, prices published. If the honest answer at your place is "move the keys and lock the laundry door", that is what you will be told, and it is free.
Sources
Victoria Police, statement on Crime Statistics Agency data, published 18 June 2026, data for the year ending 31 March 2026 — 31,851 motor vehicle thefts, highest since 2001-02; up to 40 per cent taken using key cloning technology; aggravated home burglaries down 19.9 per cent but 23 per cent above the level of three years earlier
Crime Stoppers Victoria with Victoria Police, unlocked homes campaign, published 16 April 2025, March 2025 data — regional unlocked-entry percentages, pet doors and adjoining garage doors
Victoria Police, top tips to prevent car theft, published 17 November 2025, updated 27 January 2026 — the six-point prevention list, Operation Trinity arrest figures
Victoria Police, Operation Ignition extended, published 17 August 2026 — more than 550 arrests since 1 January 2026 across Stonnington and Port Phillip
Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, release schedule — year ending 30 June 2026 data due 24 September 2026
