Topic: State and Territory Elections
Berwick shopkeeper Besima Goga says she wants to feel safe after multiple incidents happened in the main shopping strip. ( ABC News: Gabriela Rahardja )
Crime and community safety are key concerns for voters in the outer south-east Melbourne electorate of Berwick.
A survey conducted by the local council found most residents felt safer by knowing their neighbours and building connections within the community.
Early voting begins on November 18 before election day on Saturday, November 28.
Crime is front of mind for the businesses on Berwick's main strip.
The butcher has suffered four break-ins in three years and the cafe around the corner suffered two attempted firebombings in recent weeks.
Besima Goga had only been working at the jewellers for two weeks when three masked men came into the shop in the middle of the day with hammers, raiding the store and leaving her boss with a head injury.
The men have since been charged and faced court, but Ms Gogo said the jewellers now keep the doors of the shop closed.
"Now, even when I go to shopping centre, I am always looking [around] because I am scared with what happened here," she said.
The local City of Casey Council, in Melbourne's outer south-east, has found in resident surveys the top answers to what council could do to boost safety included increasing security, police and CCTV.
Berwick in Melbourne's south-east has historically been a Liberal electorate. ( ABC News: Gabriela Rahardja )
The state seat of Berwick takes in the older suburbs of Berwick and Beaconsfield Upper, and south of the Princes Freeway the booming area of Clyde North.
Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian said the electorate's voters were concerned about local infrastructure, as well as how the government is dealing with crime, the cost of living and housing affordability.
Dr Ghazarian said Berwick, held by the shadow minister for police and former Liberal leader Brad Battin on a margin of 4.7 per cent, would normally be seen as a marginal seat.
The Walk It Out women's only walking group meets every week in the Wilson Botanic Park. ( ABC News: Gabriela Rahardja )
But this time, it is part of a swathe of seats in south-eastern Melbourne, including Labor-held Narre Warren North and Narre Warren South, that could be a critical path to a Coalition victory.
Zareh Ghazarian says Berwick is a key seat to watch at the 2026 Victorian election. ( Supplied )
The incumbent Labor Party has promised to recruit 1,500 more police officers if elected, and open a second police academy in Melbourne's west.
The Coalition opposition has pledged to reopen 40 police stations and recruit an extra 3,000 police officers, and overhaul the bail system.
Still, Casey council's survey of 450 residents across 2022, 2024 and 2025 found that community and family connection was the top factor for making people feel safer in their neighbourhood.
Police patrols and CCTV ranked lower.
Casey mayor Michelle Crowther said increasing safety through community connectedness was a key priority for council.
"I feel that safety is not just the physical feeling, but it's actually the relationships and the connections," she said.
Gia Felix has joined a women's walking group at the Wilson Botanic Park, partly because there are local parks where she would not want to walk alone.
"With all the increasing violence in Victoria … I feel hesitant or think twice before I go," she said.
The green trees and calm lake sceneries in Wilson Botanic Park Berwick make it a great place for nearby residents to meet up. ( ABC News: Gabriela Rahardja )
Ariana Te Arihi founded the Walk It Out walking group out of the pandemic in hopes to create a safe space for women to connect with one another.
The group started with one member and quickly grew to a troop of women walking twice a week.
"Loneliness, disconnection and isolation is prevalent in our community … [I am trying] to combat that," Ms Te Arihi said.
When Taznim Moideen moved to Melbourne from Singapore four years ago, she joined the Berwick Neighbourhood Centre to attend prayer events in the community hall on Fridays.
Taznim Moideen says she has made many friends by joining events hosted by her local neighbourhood house. ( ABC News: Gabriela Rahardja )
She is now a stallholder at the neighbourhood house's twice-annual community market, where locals sell baked goods, crafts and plants while fostering a sense of togetherness.
"It's a beautiful community. I've got friends from different walks of life," she said.
Manager Kim Peterson said the centre was a "safe haven" for many people in Berwick.
"Everyone is welcome, all inclusive.
"If they've had an incident or a situation, there's someone there to back them up."
"Once you've created community, you recognise other people, you form relationships and they go beyond the perimeters of these buildings," she said.
However, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria CEO Keir Paterson said state government funding for local neighbourhood houses was falling behind costs with their operating capacity reaching a 10-year low.
"Nearly half of the 400 neighbourhood houses in Victoria have run at a loss for each of the past three years," he said.
Mr Paterson said he hoped whoever won government after November 28 would restore funding for a service that was essential for communities in outer suburbs.
"We know that loneliness and social isolation is particularly a problem in Melbourne's growth areas."
The ABC asked the major parties for their policies on neighbourhood houses but did not hear back by deadline.
