A recent national farm crime survey, the first in two decades, indicates that a significant number of landholders have fallen victim to crime, particularly in New South Wales. Lead researcher Kyle Mulrooney from the University of New England reported that 90% of respondents from NSW stated they had experienced criminal activity. "About 30% of the [NSW] sample indicated that they've been victims seven or more times, which was the highest they could select," Dr. Mulrooney said.

The emotional and financial toll of rural crime is exemplified by 86-year-old Esme Martens, a farmer from Ilford. Her home, located about 70 kilometers northeast of Bathurst, was set ablaze on Boxing Day nearly two years ago while she was visiting family. "The whole house was destroyed in the fire. The roof collapsed and all that was left was some walls and some rubble," she recalled.

In addition to the destruction of her home, Ms. Martens lost valuable items, including guns and a safe containing cash. However, it was the personal belongings that caused her the most pain. "Things that were 100 years old that belonged to my mother — a quilt she made when she was 18, photos of me and my brothers and my mother and father and my late partner," she said. "I had a lovely engagement ring and wedding ring, which was taken. I don't ever get any of those things back … they're just gone."

Despite suffering from macular degeneration, which affects her eyesight, Ms. Martens continues to farm. However, she has not rebuilt her home of 30 years, as much of the insurance payout was used to demolish the remnants of the fire. Instead, she has made do with a dilapidated house on a nearby property. "It's been a terrible emotional shock for me," she said. "My memory even went and I normally had a very, very good memory prior to that."

The survey, which included nearly 1,200 participants, found that trespassing, illegal hunting, and stock theft were the most prevalent crimes. New South Wales farmer Brendan Phillips has experienced all three. He reported that two groups of sheep were stolen from his property in Binnaway, leading to significant mental stress. "Coming out of a three-year drought and then you're trying to rebuild your herd and all of a sudden you're facing rural crime … and not knowing 100% who was doing it at the start … it wasn't much fun, I can tell you," he said.

Mr. Phillips initially did not report the first theft but did contact the police after the second incident. The survey revealed that only about 30% of farmers who experience stock theft report it, with confidence in police hovering around 50%. "There is the perception of police … not necessarily do they want to do anything about it, but can they actually do anything about it … and that is quite low confidence," Dr. Mulrooney noted.

Detective Chief Inspector Cameron Whiteside, head of the NSW Rural Crime Prevention Team, stated that fear of retaliation also discourages reporting in rural areas. "Whether it be sheep or whether it be cattle or goats, you still need to have intricate knowledge on how to muster those animals, get them into a vehicle or walk them off that property, which then relates to the fact that the victim quite often may know the offender," he explained.

Mr. Phillips experienced this firsthand when police charged a neighbor after discovering stolen ear tags and some of his missing sheep and wool on their property. "It was pretty hard because we'd been neighbors for 90 years and we'd always got along pretty well," he said.

The Rural Crime Prevention Team also charged two individuals for the arson of Ms. Martens's home. Both she and Mr. Phillips expressed disappointment with the sentences given to the offenders, reflecting the survey's findings that many farmers lack confidence in the judicial system. "It's a legal system, it's not a justice system," Ms. Martens said. "No matter how much somebody says they're sorry to burn your house down, it's still quite hard."

The survey results indicate that the impact of rural crime extends beyond the victims. Dr. Mulrooney noted that nearly 30% of farmers in NSW worry about crime every day. "If you put all of these pieces together from the survey, you've got high levels of victimization, you've got high levels of repeat victimization, you've got high levels of worry about crime, you've got limited confidence in the resourcing and capacity of the police and you've got really low confidence in the judiciary. All of that spells not a very pretty scenario when it comes to feeding into that mental health."