Gawler crime rate and Crime Score · South Australia
Gawler is a suburb in the Gawler council area of South Australia (about 27,564 residents in the council). The council has a Crime Score 54 out of 100 (moderate), 146th of 362 councils nationally.
Modelled estimate, not police figures: Gawler (668 residents at the 2021 Census) is estimated to account for about 66 of the offences recorded each year in the Gawler council area (likely 32 to 110), roughly 9,900 per 100,000 residents, including about 12 violent offences (likely 6 to 20). Ranges are 80% intervals; confidence 55 of 100. The estimate shares the council's published total (2025-26, three-year average) between its suburbs using a model trained on South Australia's suburb-level police data and ABS measures of each suburb's population and socio-economic profile.
The score blends national percentile ranks for each published offence category with fixed severity weights; here it is driven most by assault (65th percentile), homicide (63rd percentile), robbery (65th percentile). Five years earlier the same basis gave 55.
In 2025-26: violent 1,157 per 100,000 (+7% vs five years earlier); property 4,132 per 100,000 (-5% vs five years earlier); break-ins 508 per 100,000 (+19% vs five years earlier); theft 1,843 per 100,000 (-9% vs five years earlier). For violent crime that is 19th of 69 South Australia councils with data, highest first.
Unemployment in the Gawler council area is 5.9% (South Australia 5.4%), Census, 10 August 2021. Social housing makes up 4.7% of occupied homes (389 public and 87 community-housing dwellings at the 2021 Census; South Australia 5.6%). An estimated 86 people were homeless on Census night 2021, 32.9 per 10,000 residents (South Australia 41.7), apportioned from ABS Statistical Area Level 2 counts. 17.8% of residents were born overseas (South Australia 25.2%), most often in England, Scotland, New Zealand. Modelled estimates for 2026-27, not measurements: unemployment about 5.1% (confidence 80 of 100); social housing about 4.3% of homes; about 32.3 homeless people per 10,000 residents; about 18.1% born overseas. Confidence falls with distance from the last published figure, and the map's Estimates toggle shows every year back to 1994-95.
South Australia publishes crime statistics by council area, not by suburb, so the figures shown for Gawler are those of the Gawler council area.
| Offences | Per 100,000 | Count | 5-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent | 1,157 | 319 | +7% |
| Property | 4,132 | 1,139 | -5% |
| Break-ins | 508 | 140 | +19% |
| Theft | 1,843 | 508 | -9% |
How suburb estimates are made, and how accurate they are.
Gawler council area: full statistics · Interactive map of every council.
Questions
Is Gawler safe?
South Australia publishes crime figures by council area, not by suburb. Gawler is in the Gawler council area, which recorded 1,160 violent offences per 100,000 residents in 2025-26, about 11% lower than the South Australia rate (1,300) and about 10% lower than the national rate (1,280). A modelled estimate for Gawler itself is roughly 9,900 offences of all kinds per 100,000 residents a year (an estimate, not police figures). These are offences recorded by police per resident: they describe the area as a whole, not the risk on any particular street, and places with a busy centre record more because offences are counted where they happen.
Police news near Gawler
- Stabbing incident Smithfield Plains · Smithfield Plains, 6 Oct 2026 · 11 km away
- Armed man arrested at Craigmore · Craigmore, 29 Sept 2026 · 12 km away
- Fatal crash at Lewiston · Lewiston, 25 Sept 2026 · 14 km away
Nearby suburbs
Evanston · Evanston Gardens · Evanston Park · Evanston South · Gawler East · Gawler South · Gawler West · Hillier · Kudla · Reid · Willaston
australiancrimerate.com.au/suburb/sa/gawler/ · Australian Crime Map