Thieves To Hit Retailers Hard During Tough Times

Sun Herald

Sunday November 2, 2008

By MARK RUSSELL

RETAILERS expect thieves to steal $5.8 billion in cash and goods this year because of tougher times.

This would represent a jump of $2.2 billion in losses compared with $3.6 billion lost last year from theft.

The Australian Retailers Association - the peak body in an industry that employs more than 1.2 million people - said its research showed theft was on the rise this year as people struggled to cope financially.

The association estimates that more than half the $5.8 billion (which equates to 2 per cent of the retail industry's total estimated sales revenue of $290 billion for 2008), would be lost because of employee theft.

The rule of thumb for retailers is that about 55 per cent of theft is committed by staff and 45 per cent by shoplifters.

The problem for the public is that the losses are invariably passed on to the consumer through higher prices.

Association executive director Richard Evans said the predicted percentage increase in theft from 1.5 per cent of total sales revenue ($240 billion) in 2007 to 2 per cent this year was significant.

"When you're dealing with money, it's tempting to put it in your pocket in tough times," Mr Evans said.

"With staff it could go directly from the till or it could be offering discounts to friends when discounts don't apply.

"What retailers have to do is spend more time reducing the opportunity for people to steal."

Mr Evans said some staff did not think it was wrong to steal because they were working longer hours and not being paid well enough.

"They don't see it as stealing. They see it as their right to take it."

The Australian Institute of Criminology's principal criminologist, Dr Russell Smith, said employee theft was on the rise in Australia as times get tougher, with most cases involving problem gamblers.

Dr Smith said the institute recently released a report showing employers were the biggest victims of gambling-motivated fraud.

The new study, based on a review of online reports of 528 legal judgments of 12,662 criminal offences heard in Australian courts, found that in the past decade more than $250 million may have been lost to fraud-related gambling.

Of the offenders prosecuted for gambling-motivated fraud, more than 58 per cent were male, and most were between 31 and 50.

"The likely victims were employers [67 per cent] but the largest amounts were stolen from state governments [an average of $3.8 million per government] and from clients of financial advisers, accountants and solicitors [an average of $1.45 million]," the study said.

The money was used to fund poker-machine addiction in 56 per cent of the cases, with $65,000 being the average amount stolen.

Then came casinos, with 23 per cent or $71,000, horse racing, with 8 per cent or $71,500 and TAB gambling, 6 per cent or $5600.

© 2008 Sun Herald

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