Roller shutters for East Victoria Park

In 2025 WA Police recorded 73 burglaries in East Victoria Park. Five years earlier, in 2021, the count was 110, so the 2025 figure is a third lower (33.6%). Look further back and the fall is larger: 175 in 2017 and 202 in 2019.

Measured against the population, 73 burglaries is 6.9 per 1,000 residents. Across metropolitan Perth the rate was 4.0, so the suburb is still above the metro figure despite the drop. The count combines homes and businesses, which is how WA Police report every suburb.

Shutters are one layer of security rather than a guarantee. Lowered over a window or sliding door, a roller shutter is a physical barrier across the opening, and it makes forced entry slower and noisier.

Separate houses made up 66.7% of occupied dwellings in East Victoria Park at the 2021 Census, well under the Greater Perth figure of 77.8%. Semi-detached, terrace and townhouse dwellings were 15.4%, and flats or apartments 17.7%. Landgate notes that development of the suburb commenced in the late 1800s, and that the Bickford estate once promoted itself as Victoria Park East.

Where a home is in a strata scheme, strata rules come into it. Under the default conduct by-law, an owner must not keep anything visible from outside the lot that, viewed from outside, is not in keeping with the rest of the building, without the strata company's written consent. Landgate also points out that strata approval is in addition to any development and building approvals.

For freestanding houses, residential roller shutters suit bedrooms and rear sliders. A ground floor unit with a courtyard may suit cafe blinds or a Ziptrak blind, subject to the same strata consent.

Places in East Victoria Park are on the Town of Victoria Park Heritage List. A listed place is heritage protected, which takes it outside both the state exemption and the Town's own exemption for shutters, so approval is needed before work starts. The Town's heritage page refers to a draft local planning policy on minor works; it is a draft, not yet in effect.

Fabric awnings need a building permit in every case, under the Town's Local Planning Policy No. 32. Keep that in mind if an awning is on the list alongside shutters or blinds.

Away from heritage places, the same policy exempts outdoor blinds and roller shutters on the lot of a single house, grouped dwelling or multiple dwelling from development approval. Its guidance note 4 does discourage roller shutters, citing the visual amenity of the streetscape and the way they obstruct surveillance between the dwelling and the street. At state level, a single house is exempt only where the R-Codes apply, the work is deemed-to-comply and the place is not heritage protected.

Shops and other non-residential uses in or next to residential areas cannot use roller doors or shutters in any instance under Local Planning Policy No. 3. For residents with a WA Seniors Card, the state Safety and Security Rebate covers window shutters up to $400.