Robbery Against Service Stations and Pharmacies: Recent Trends

Disclaimer: This research paper does not necessarily reflect the policy position of the Commonwealth Government. Adam Graycar Director This paper examines the vulnerability to robbery of service stations and pharmacies in Australia. Service stations are open for long hours, keep cash on the premises and have minimal staffing at night, all of which may be contributing factors for robbery. Pharmacies may be attractive targets because they stock drugs. Data in this paper on the prevalence of robbery in these two retail sectors are drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and from a major national survey of crime against small business conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology. The data show that since 1993 the proportion of all robberies occurring at service stations has risen substantially, while the proportion of all robberies occurring at pharmacies has remained stable. Of the service stations and pharmacies surveyed in the Small Business Crime Survey, eight per cent of service stations and 11 per cent of pharmacies reported at least one incident of robbery in the previous 12 months. Further, 80 per cent of robberies occurring at service stations had only one staff member on duty, while a majority of robberies at pharmacies (52%) occurred with two or more staff members present. Repeat victimisation is a key factor in understanding robbery; five per cent of all pharmacies and service stations in the sample accounted for almost three-quarters (72%) of all reported robbery incidents. Research into this kind of business victimisation is essential for developing programs and practices to reduce robbery—and vulnerability to robbery—and is a key task of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Small Business Crime Prevention program. It will complement the AIC’s National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program which commenced in 2001.