Residents, businesses are turning to duress buttons and security escorts.

A Ballarat-based security business says more organisations and individuals are turning to duress devices and security escorts to help them as crime and anti-social behaviour remains a challenge in the city.  It comes as a new survey reveals 15 per cent of businesses in Victoria are dealing with safety issues on a daily basis and another 35 per cent on a weekly basis.

The Community Safety and Business Impacts Survey, compiled by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Committee for Melbourne, was completed by 1400 businesses across the state, including Ballarat-based Sectrol Security.

The survey found the most frequent incidents were vandalism, graffiti and property damage, drug-affected behaviour, rough sleeping, customer aggression, family violence incidents on or near business premises, break-ins, burglaries, and physical assault. It also found 92 per cent of employers said concerns for staff safety have also increased.

Sectrol Security, which has been operating in the Gold Rush city since 1979, provides a range of security services including CCTV and alarm monitoring, security patrols, personal escorts and duress devices. General Manager David Herman said he had seen a noticeable increase in crime instances since the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think there is a lot to do with cost of business pressures, cost of living pressures,” he said.

“You’ve got challenges in every aspect of what we do, from vandalism, crime, break-ins.” He said with the trending crime had come an increase in people and businesses coming to Sectrol Security for personal duress devices and personal escorts. “Probably one of the growing areas of our market is in personal duress. Personal duress is a product that emerged out of the family violence space,” he said. “Its applications are now quite wide. We support our customers with welfare checks, lone worker support. “The more crime is in the news, the more uncertain and concerned people feel and so people who are out in the field doing home inspections or site visits – this is a product that we’ve seen grow quite significantly. “We’re probably doing more escorts – as in making sure that people get to their vehicles and the like, that’s that’s been something we’ve noticed.”

The business also supports a range of social services, including the hospital system. 

Mr Herman said Sectrol Security officers respond to incidents such as break-ins and vandalism, but do not engage with potential threats. He said the building industry was often a target of theft. “The classic example of that is building materials. Work sites, construction sites – they’re a target. If there’s copper, it’s sadly that’s something people seem to want.” The survey revealed 74 per cent of respondents said the issue of crime and safety had a direct influence on major business decisions, including investment in more security, staffing and rosters, relocation consideration plans, and resignations driven by safety fears.

It also highlighted the economic impact of crime, with 22 per cent of respondents reporting losses of between $10,000 and $50,000.

The Essential Candle Co is one Ballarat business who has spoken out about the cost of retail theft in recent months.

Owner Kristine MacFarlane said she estimated her small business lost about $28,000 in stock to theft in the 2024/25 financial year. “At $28,000, that’s halfway to someone’s yearly wage. As a small business, that’s wages, that’s time, that’s product,” she told The Courier in September. The data from the Crime Statistics Agency, released on September 25, revealed the number of criminal incidents of stealing from a retail store jumped by 84 per cent between 2022 and 2025, and increased by 26 per cent in the past year.

Mr Herman said it was important to highlight the issues facing regional Victorian businesses in the survey. “When the Victorian Chamber of Commerce does these kind of things, we’re very passionate about Ballarat,” he said. “It’s really important that that there is a regional voice in every one of these conversations. It wasn’t just the fact that it was about crime and safety, we want to make sure that Ballarat has a very strong voice as a member of the business community.”