Supermarkets have started strapping body cameras on their workers to improve safety amid a big rise in individual and organised theft.

In an uncommon joining of forces, the Australian Retail Association (ARA) and National Retail Association (NRA) supported a national increase in penalties for violence against retail workers and improved resourcing for state and territory police forces to help curb rising shoplifting rates.

ARA chief executive Paul Zahra said that some retailers are reporting a 50 per cent increase in theft recently, with renewed concern for the safety of front-line workers dealing with crime gangs.

Zahra told TND that things have become so bad that retailers are starting to supply body cameras to staff so they can deter acts of violence and become the “best witnesses”.

“Who would have imagined we would be seeing supermarket workers wearing body cameras to protect themselves?

“That’s of great concern and it’s something we should all be worried about as a society, that we’re heading in this direction,” he said.

Most stolen items

The National Retailers Association claims retail crime, including shoplifting, robbery and vandalism, costs Australian businesses up to $9 billion every year.

The most stolen items at supermarkets are fresh meat, facial creams and tobacco.

At hardware stores, meanwhile, thieves are targeting products such as power tools and batteries, according to an analysis from Griffith Criminology Institute professor Michael Townsley.

“The average theft amount has increased significantly; people are being a lot more brazen,” Townsley said in a report for the NRA late last year.

Zahra said the increased thefts are coming from both individuals and organised gangs, who are more sophisticated and often have one person distract workers while another walks out with a trolley.

There’s also a greater risk of violence when it comes to criminal gangs, Zahra said.

“It’s the human side of this we’re really worried about,” he said.

“In every retail crime situation there’s often abuse or violence against frontline workers – the big concern for retailers is the impact on team members. ”

Push for crackdown

Retailers want recent moves in state parliaments including South Australia that have increased penalties for abuse against retail workers to be pursued at the federal level, Zahra said.

“We have inconsistent law across the country with state-based legislation.”

Both employer groups are also calling on state and territory governments to commit additional funding to police to go after retail theft, both from individuals and organised crime rings.

Retailers also have a role to play in solving the problem too though, with Zahra saying big chains are increasingly putting their competitive differences aside and sharing information on crime.

“We have to be better as an industry at capturing data and sharing it,” Zahra said.

“It’s really about that technology, we don’t want staff to ever apprehend or chase a shoplifter, we want them to become the best witnesses.”