In an effort to provide safer environments for online marketplace transactions, special zones have been established outside 35 24-hour police stations across Victoria. These Safer Exchange Sites offer a secure alternative for buyers and sellers to meet when exchanging items purchased online, avoiding riskier locations like homes, parks, or carparks.
The exchange zones, located outside police stations, are equipped with CCTV coverage, clear signage, and good lighting. This initiative follows a successful trial launched in mid-2022 at several 24-hour police stations in Melbourne’s northeast. During the trial, police observed a decrease in thefts and robberies linked to online sales, and more people were seen using the designated exchange sites.
The concept was introduced after a rise in robberies, thefts, and assaults related to online trading, particularly peaking in 2020 before COVID-19 lockdowns. Smartphones are among the most common high-value items targeted in these incidents. Though the offending slowed during the pandemic, Victoria Police implemented the Safer Exchange Sites to prevent these crimes from resurging.
The initiative has proven popular in the United States, where online marketplaces continue to grow in popularity. Users report feeling safer when meeting at designated locations with security measures such as lighting and CCTV.
Commander Tim Tully from Victoria Police said:
“While the overall number of assaults, thefts, and robberies connected to online exchanges is low, we don’t want to see any occur.
With the popularity of buying and selling items via online marketplaces continuing to grow, this initiative is all about police getting on the front foot to ensure an emerging crime theme doesn’t become an embedded trend.”
Police also recommend that people meeting for exchanges consider additional safety measures, such as meeting during daylight hours and bringing a friend along.
24-hour Police Stations with Safer Exchange Sites
Metropolitan
– Altona
– Broadmeadows
– Caulfield
– Craigieburn
– Dandenong
– Fawkner
– Heidelberg*
– Melbourne East
– Melbourne North
– Melbourne West
– Melton
– Mernda*
– Mill Park*
– Moonee Ponds
– Moorabbin
– Mooroolbark
– Pakenham
– Prahran
– Preston*
– Richmond
– St Kilda
– Werribee
Regional
– Bacchus Marsh
– Ballarat
– Bendigo
– Castlemaine
– Corio
– Echuca
– Geelong
– Horsham
– Maryborough
– Mildura
– Morwell
– Swan Hill
– Warrnambool
(Part of the original trial sites.)
For more information, visit your nearest 24-hour police station.
