The Basement Is the Breach: 5,226 Thefts From Victorian Apartment Car Parks and Storage Cages

There were 5,226 reported thefts from Victorian apartment car parks and storage cages in 2025, a seven percent increase on the year before. For owners corporations, this is the number that matters more than the front door, because the basement is where common property, resident vehicles and duty of care all overlap.

The lobby is not the weak point

Most apartment security spending goes on the pedestrian entrance, which is the one entry point that already has a locked door, an intercom and an audience. The vehicle entrance has none of those things. It stays open for twenty to thirty seconds per movement, it is used at hours when nobody is watching, and it leads directly to storage cages holding bicycles, tools and sporting equipment.

Four failures we find repeatedly in Melbourne buildings

• Tailgating, where a person on foot or a second vehicle follows a resident through the roller door before it closes
• Doors held open by residents or contractors for convenience, with no system that notices or objects
• Latch manipulation on fire stair and lobby doors, where the hardware can be defeated in seconds without leaving a mark
• Unsecured garage door controls, including remotes left in unlocked vehicles and controllers accessible from the car park itself

At a 100 lot complex in Caulfield North the building was experiencing weekly break-ins. The causes were a forced entry door, manipulated latches and an unsecured garage control. The fix was not a larger camera system. It was a risk based audit followed by stronger locks, latch guards and door held open monitoring, so that the failures producing the entries were closed rather than filmed.

What the owners corporation is actually exposed to

Under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 the owners corporation carries responsibility for repair and maintenance of common property, and owners corporations with common property must hold public liability cover of no less than $20 million. Residents also frequently discover that items kept in a storage cage or communal car park are excluded or limited under standard contents policies, which turns a theft into a dispute between the resident, the insurer and the committee.

A documented risk assessment matters here beyond the security outcome. A committee that has identified a known vulnerability and has a funded plan to address it is in a materially different position from one that has minutes showing the issue was raised and left.

A staged upgrade a committee can actually fund

Very few committees can approve a full building system in one meeting. Staging it in the order of risk usually gets it through.

• Stage one: vehicle entry coverage at plate height and face height, plus door held open monitoring on the vehicle door and fire stairs
• Stage two: hardware remediation on the doors that are actually being defeated, including latch guards
• Stage three: access control replacement where fobs have been copied or the register is no longer accurate
• Stage four: storage cage area coverage and lighting, which is the least expensive item and the most visible to residents

The maintenance argument nobody makes

Access control registers are the quietest failure in Melbourne apartment buildings. Fobs are issued to tenants who move out, contractors keep credentials long after a project finishes, and nobody reconciles the list because no incident has forced the issue. By the time a building has turned over its residents twice, the number of active credentials frequently exceeds the number of lots. A register that is audited annually is a cheaper control than almost any hardware upgrade on the list above.

Getting it approved

Committees respond to two things: incident history in their own building, and the liability question. Bring both. A short assessment report that names the specific entry method used in the last three incidents, with a costed remedy for each, will move faster through a general meeting than a proposal for a camera count.

Frequently asked questions

Can an owners corporation install CCTV in common property in Victoria?

Generally yes, with proper resolution, signage, documented purpose, defined retention and controlled access to footage. The obligations sit around handling and notification rather than around the cameras themselves.

Who pays for a car park security upgrade?

Common property works are normally funded through owners corporation fees or a special levy, allocated by lot liability, and significant special fees generally require the appropriate resolution rather than a committee decision alone.

Do cameras stop storage cage theft?

Cameras alone produce evidence. What stops repeat theft in a basement is closing the entry method, which usually means door hardware, door held open monitoring and access control rather than another lens.

Free assessment for your building

Forever Secure works directly with committees and strata managers across Melbourne and provides a written risk based assessment at no cost. Call 1300 232 152. Licence 969-120-00S.