Crime and safety analysis based on 8 blocks and 3,168 residents. SEIFA score 620 (higher disadvantage)
Total crime rate 19,416 per 100,000 residents. Violent crime: 1 in 11. Property crime: 1 in 24.
Wellesley Islands faces severe and highly concentrated crime risk. Safety is extremely uneven and driven by significant socioeconomic disadvantage.
The highest crime areas include Wardirrkan Street, Mukakiya Street, Ngerrawurn Street, Cemetery Road, Yarrbarkan Street, and Wengka Street. These locations show vastly higher crime than the quietest blocks. Violent crime dominates the hotspots, averaging 9,069 per 100,000 people across the entire suburb. This is a red flag for serious assault and related incidents. The crime variation is extreme: the most dangerous block experiences crime at rates 5,508 times higher than the safest block. This is the kind of micro-level concentration typical of very isolated and disadvantaged communities.
Residential areas outside the hotspot streets are safer but still report elevated rates. The residential zone records violent crime at 965 per 100,000, property crime at 358, and public order offences at 1,251 per 100,000. While this is below the hotspot average, it reflects a community under significant stress.
No clear "safe streets" list was available from the crime data, suggesting that safety is more marginal across the entire locality rather than concentrated in specific quiet neighbourhoods like other suburbs. The extreme variation points to a few very dangerous blocks rather than a clear geography of safe and unsafe areas.
Wellesley Islands has a population of just 3,168 with a SEIFA score of 620, the lowest recorded in this analysis. This indicates severe disadvantage. Public housing accounts for 73.1 per cent of the housing stock, welfare dependency affects 58.4 per cent of households, and 0 per cent are renters (indicating social housing dominance). Weekly income averages just $855. These metrics indicate a community facing deep structural challenges.
For property investors or residents, Wellesley Islands presents serious risk. The combination of extreme crime concentration, very small population, and severe disadvantage suggests this is not a mainstream investment location. The 5,508-fold crime variation means that even the "safer" blocks carry risk well above typical suburbs. This should rank very low on any residential or investment priority list.
| Category | Wellesley Islands | QLD Avg |
|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 9,069 | 900 |
| Property crime | 4,139 | 3,800 |
| Drug offences | 913 | 800 |
| Public order | 2,252 | 900 |
Rates per 100,000 residents. Source: BOCSAR, Victoria Police, QPS.
| Metric | Wellesley Islands |
|---|---|
| Public housing | 73.1% |
| Unemployment | 0.6% |
| Welfare dependent | 58.4% |
| SEIFA disadvantage | 620 |
| Median household income | $855/wk |
Source: ABS Census 2021.
Not all crime affects property values the same way. In some suburbs the data shows a clear price penalty. In others it does not. We tested Wellesley Islands against 14,000 suburbs to find out.
The full report shows the growth gap between high-crime blocks and low-crime blocks, the exact streets most affected, and what a buyer should expect over the next four years.
See the Growth Data for Wellesley Islands