ABOUT NMVTRC

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) is a joint initiative of all Australian governments and the insurance industry. Our mission is to drive down Australia's unacceptably high level of vehicle theft. This will benefit the economic and social well-being of the nation.

We are working actively with police, insurers, the motor trades, vehicle manufacturers, registration authorities and justice agencies to implement a range of theft reduction strategies. These strategies are making vehicles more difficult to steal, closing the loopholes that professional thieves exploit, improving the flow of police and registration information nationally, and leading young offenders away from vehicle theft. As the dynamics of vehicle theft invariably change over time, we remain open to new strategies.

The NMVTRC is an independent incorporated, not-for-profit, association. The NMVTRC commenced operation in 1999 for an initial term of five years and this term has since been extended by the Council's funding partners to the end of 2006. The NMVTRC reports to the Australian and New Zealand Crime Prevention Ministerial Forum and the Insurance Council of Australia.

AIMS

The aims of the NMVTRC's are to:

Reduce the cost of vehicle theft with countermeasures that impede the activities of organised criminals attempting to turn stolen vehicles or components into cash. Theft for profit accounts for a quarter of all vehicle thefts but constitutes up to half of the estimated cost of car crime to the nation. Reducing these costs requires responses that diminish the lucrative returns to those parties who seek to deal in stolen vehicles and parts, and/or increase the likelihood of their activities being detected.

Countermeasures to reduce the cost of vehicle theft include:

• continuing to improve the national exchange of vehicle information between registration authorities and police;
  
• improving the identification of motor vehicles and their parts;
  
• supporting measures to minimise the flow of stolen parts into the legitimate motor trades; and
  
• ensuring that vehicle theft investigation remains a priority issue in enforcement and national police intelligence collation.

Reduce the volume of vehicle theft with strategies to reduce the opportunistic theft of older vehicles for joyriding, transport or to commit another crime. The theft of older vehicles by youths accounts for the overwhelming volume of vehicle theft in Australia, with three out of every four stolen vehicles falling into this category.

Strategies to reduce the volume of vehicle theft include:

• facilitating individual state-based compulsory immobilisation schemes where a clear cost-benefit exist;
  
• promoting effective security practices to the motoring community; and
  
• supporting trials of best practice diversionary programs for young, repeat offenders.

The NMVTRC comprises:

As not all organisations with an interest in reducing vehicle theft could be directly represented on the Council the NMVTRC remains open to the input and views of all interested parties.

The NMVTRC is served by a full-time Melbourne-based Secretariat staff of four, lead by Executive Director Ray Carroll.

THE REFORM PROCESS