Victoria’s ‘lawless state’: Retail crime fuels ‘anarchy’ and ‘carnage in the streets’ as violence soars

For more than half a century, the Porposch family has run its supermarket in the tiny Victorian town of Longwarry.

Then organised crime came crashing through their front door.

Last September, Janet and John Porposch found a handwritten note taped to their Friendly Grocer giving them 24 hours to contact “the Commission” on WhatsApp.

They took it to police and did not make contact.

Six days later, a stolen Subaru was repeatedly rammed through the front of their supermarket in the middle of the night.

“It’s bewildering. It just blows my mind,” Mrs Porposch told The Nightly.

“I still can’t get my head around it.

“We just feel it’s a different world nowadays.”

The Commission is the name used by a suspected organised crime syndicate linked to an extortion campaign targeting businesses across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

The Porposches have traded in Longwarry, population about 3000, for 53 years and believed Melbourne’s crime wave would never reach them.

“We’re in the country – it doesn’t happen here,” Mrs Porposch said.

On the morning of the ram raid, they pushed the wreckage aside and began serving customers through the gaping hole where the front of their supermarket had been.

“We pushed the rubbish to one side and (customer) Noel came for his newspaper,” Mrs Porposch said.

“We had a human chain with the newspaper – Noel would get it and pass his coins back through.

“By mid-morning, we had things back in pretty good order.”

Almost a year later, the ram raid has left its mark – literally.

“We’ve still got the car skid marks on our lino out the front,” she said.

“We could probably polish it out but it’s a bit of a memory of where they’ve been.”

The attack made the couple contemplate walking away from the family business.

“It’s the first time it’s crossed our minds,” Mrs Porposch said.

“But we won’t be held ransom to that sort of behaviour. We’re not going to buckle to that.”

Almost a year on, nobody has been arrested over the ram raid.

Mrs Porposch describes those who carried it out as merely the “foot soldiers”.

“The ones that are ordering this – they’re the ones you’ve got to get,” she said.

“We need the Government to bring it under control because society is descending into anarchy.

“It’s not like a developed country anymore. It’s like Mexico.”

Her fears come amid a retail crime crisis industry leaders say is becoming more brazen, organised and violent.

In Sunshine last month, beloved Vietnamese grocer Van Viet Truong, 60, died after he was allegedly attacked while helping a neighbouring shopkeeper confront suspected teenage thieves.

Crime Statistics Agency figures show 4823 assault and related offences at Victorian retail locations in the year to March, while stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour has soared 34.9 per cent since 2022.

Auror data records about 270 violent retail crime events nationally each day – around 100 in Victoria – with the top 10 per cent of offenders responsible for about 60 per cent of retail crime harm.

Public anxiety is also soaring.

RedBridge polling commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores in July found 61 per cent of Melbourne voters ranked crime and public safety among their three most important issues, second only to cost of living.

“What we’re hearing from retailers on the ground is that the level of crime – not only shoplifting, but abuse, vulgar language and general bad behaviour – in Victoria is the worst they’ve ever seen,” AACS chief executive Theo Foukkare told The Nightly.

“Victoria is also the home of the illegal tobacco and nicotine vaping crisis. Out of that, we’ve seen carnage on the streets.”

Mr Foukkare said industry intelligence suggested retail crime in Victoria was up to three-and-a-half times worse than in other states.

“You’ve got a bunch of kids that are either doing it on their own or are part of an organised group,” he said.

“They go out and terrorise front-line retail staff, whether that’s at Woolies, a 7-Eleven, any retail outlet or an independent grocer.”

Retailers are pouring money into CCTV, body-worn cameras, duress alarms and other security measures, while some convenience stores that once traded around the clock are closing at night over staff safety concerns.

“We’ve got retailers investing more than they ever have in the safety of their people,” Mr Foukkare said.

“Every employer’s main responsibility is to make sure their people can get home safely at the end of their shift.”

Mr Foukkare praised Victoria Police but took aim at the justice system.

“The police are doing a great job. They’re dealing with the crime as best they can,” he said.

“Right now, the judicial system is letting the community down.

“The Government hasn’t been tough enough on it.”

Australian Retail Council chief executive Chris Rodwell said the greatest cost was not disappearing stock.

“It is the impact on people,” Mr Rodwell said.

“The trauma caused by being threatened, abused or assaulted at work has long-lasting consequences.

“Some workers become frightened to work particular shifts or return to a store, and their families are left worrying about whether they will come home safely.”

Retail employs 1.4 million Australians, more than half of them women, with more than 500,000 workers aged under 24.

“Retail should remain one of the safest and best first jobs a young person can have,” Mr Rodwell said.

“We will not accept a future in which a teenager has to weigh up the risk of being threatened or assaulted before starting a shift.”

MGA Independent Businesses Australia chief executive Martin Stirling issued an extraordinary warning after the attack on the Porposches’ supermarket last year.

“Victoria is rapidly slipping into a lawless state,” Mr Stirling said.

“Families, workers, and communities are being put at risk every day.

“This is no longer just a retail crime issue – it is a community safety emergency.”

Flooding retail crime hot spots with police appears to be working.

Victoria Police’s Operation Pulse has deployed police and Protective Services Officers to major shopping centres, with State Government data showing a 73 per cent reduction in retail theft stock loss and a 50 per cent fall in serious violent events at participating centres in its early months.

The government has since announced an additional 150 PSOs and extended Operation Pulse, but retailers argue its success proves the model should go state-wide.

“Operation Pulse proves that dedicating policing resources to retail crime delivers results,” Mr Rodwell said.

“But retail crime is not confined to a handful of shopping centres.”

Victoria’s new Workplace Protection Order laws, due to commence in March 2027, are designed to stop high-risk repeat offenders returning to workplaces.

But the ARC says they are Australia’s weakest because courts cannot issue urgent interim orders immediately barring offenders.

“It is deeply disappointing that the state facing the country’s worst retail crime problem has passed the weakest Workplace Protection Order legislation we’ve yet seen around the nation,” Mr Rodwell said.

“Progress has been made, but front-line workers are still facing unacceptable levels of violence, threats and abuse.”

With Victorians heading to the polls in November, Mr Foukkare said retailers wanted action regardless of who wins.

“Whichever side of politics you’re on, retailers need help,” he said.

“The Government needs to have their back when it comes to keeping repeat offenders off the streets.

“We need a strong government position, adequate resources and funding, and the right technology to keep everyone safe.”

Back in Longwarry, the Porposches are still trading.

They remain determined to protect their family business but their sense of security has been shattered.

“I don’t feel like I’m in Australia anymore,” Mrs Porposch said.

“And this is in a country town.

“Where is it safe?”