Roller shutters for Alkimos homes

Alkimos recorded 33 burglaries in 2025. Measured against the 2021 Census count of 10,203 residents, that is 3.2 per 1,000, under the metropolitan Perth rate of 4.0. The population has moved on a long way from that census, though, so a rate worked out on the 2021 base overstates the real figure.

Across five years the count is little changed, with 28 burglaries in 2021 and 33 in 2025, and 2025 came in well under the 51 recorded in 2024. The longer view is clearer: there were 89 in 2017, so 2025 was about 63% lower. As in every suburb, the figure combines homes and businesses.

Shutters fit into that picture as hardware, not a promise. Closed, a roller shutter is a physical barrier on windows and doors and makes forced entry slower and noisier.

97.6% of occupied dwellings in Alkimos were separate houses at the 2021 Census, and home ownership sat at 70.3%, level with Greater Perth. Residential roller shutters suit that housing well: bedroom and living room windows first, then the sliding doors onto the yard.

If a shutter or external blind is meant to count as a privacy screen under the R-Codes, it has to be at least 1.6 m high, at least 75 per cent obscure, permanently fixed and made of durable material. A shutter you raise and lower each day is a different thing, so tell us if screening a neighbour's view is the aim.

Outdoor living gets its own options. A Ziptrak blind runs in side tracks, and electric outdoor blinds on a 240v hardwired connection are installed by a licensed electrician. Ziptrak advises watching motorised blinds while they move, because strong wind pressing on the fabric can affect them in the tracks.

For a single house, usually not. The state exemption covers alterations to a single house where the R-Codes apply, the work complies with the deemed-to-comply provisions, and the place is not heritage protected.

Alkimos is not one of the localities on the City of Wanneroo's Heritage List 2025. The City's exemptions policy still sets a citywide rule: a site on its Municipal Heritage List or the State Register is not exempt, so a listed property needs approval first.

Townhouses are rare here, 2.2% of dwellings, but in a strata scheme you need the strata company's written consent for visible changes that are not in keeping with the building, and Landgate notes that this sits on top of any development and building approvals.