In short:
A revamped crime prevention campaign called Outsmart the Offender is expected to help people take small steps to protect their homes and vehicles from theft.
Even though the ACT has relatively low rates of property crime, it's still a concern for police.
What's next?
The campaign will run for nine weeks across social media, online and in-person.
Buying their first home after a long search on a tight budget should have been an exciting and happy time for Georgia Wilson and her husband Lachlan.
It had been a tricky task to find an affordable, accessible home for Mrs Wilson, who has multiple sclerosis.
So to find their townhouse had been broken into during a routine pre-settlement inspection was "heartbreaking".
"It was just senseless vandalism, basically, like ripped light fixtures and things out of the walls [and] drug paraphernalia everywhere," she said.
"They tried to take the dishwasher ... ripped the shower head out ... holes in the walls and dirt everywhere, things like that."
While there was no furniture in the house that could be stolen, the incident has deeply impacted the couple.
There was an immediate impact to their plans, including a delayed settlement and move-in date and ongoing interactions with the real-estate agent, seller's insurer and tradespeople.
But what Mrs Wilson has also been left with is a sense of unease about the future.
"It's also kind of scary, because I work from home, and I just thought, 'oh my God, am I going to be somewhere and I'm just going to be scared the whole time, like that's no way to live," she said.
The stress has also exacerbated Mrs Wilson's condition, leading to a pseudo-flare and problems with movement along the left-hand side of her body.
She's also battling fatigue.
The Wilsons have considered things like installing Crimsafe doors and window fixtures as well as getting CCTV — although Mrs Wilson doesn't necessarily want her new home to start feeling like a "high-security" facility either.
They've also reached out to their neighbours, and the body corporate, in order to foster neighbourhood connections which they hope will mean a reduced chance of something similar happening in their complex.
It's also not the first time Mrs Wilson has had a negative experience with opportunistic intruders breaking into apartment complexes.
She said she's previously been on the phone to police and told there's not much they can do if the offender is only in a common area.
"I think it would be nice if they could meet us halfway," Mrs Wilson explained.
"And it can't always be up to us to have the responsibility of making houses secure. You've got to have money to do that."
Stolen car means ongoing inconvenience
Lexi Harding also knows about what it's like to be left feeling unsafe.
Her vehicle was stolen from her apartment complex in Gungahlin earlier this year.
She's not entirely sure how it all unfolded, but has been led to believe the offenders likely tail-gaited their way into the basement car park and then broke into a locksmith's vehicle, before using that equipment to break into her vehicle, too.
Ms Harding did get her vehicle back, but she now has to pay higher insurance premiums and lives with the feeling that there's little she can do to stop it from happening again.
"I've bought one of the steering wheel locks, so that's probably the best I can do," she said.
"But we've talked to body corporate about getting cameras down there."
As a renter, installing CCTV in the car park is a little out of the realm of possibility for Ms Harding alone.
Nonetheless, that's exactly what a revamped Outsmart the Offender crime prevention campaign is encouraging Canberrans to do — urging people to take steps to make their homes and vehicles harder for criminals to target.
Loading...'Outsmart the offender' launches revamped campaign
The ACT government has spent almost $150,000 on refreshing the campaign, which will roll out for nine weeks with online videos, a social media campaign and advertisements on public transport and at shopping centres.
It encourages Canberrans to secure vehicles and bikes with quality locks and alarms and keep doors and windows securely fastened, even while at home.
Residents are also urged to consider installing CCTV or motion-sensor lights and get to know their neighbours in order to report concerns to one another, and police.
The ACT government says it's not about putting all of the onus for preventing crime solely on the shoulders of residents, but about everyone working together.
Minister for Police and Crime Prevention Mick Gentleman said he wanted to see the community report property crime to police when it happened.
"It is opportunistic, it's normally a criminal that's looking for an easy way to make that theft," he said.
"If we can take some steps to make it more difficult for that criminal behaviour, then we'll be better off into the future, and the community will feel safer as well."
Property crime stable in Canberra, but still an area of focus
ACT Policing's crime statistics show reports of property crimes, including stolen motor vehicles, have remained relatively stable across the past few years.
The ACT is also a relatively safe jurisdiction, ACT Chief Police Officer Scott Lee said, but that doesn't mean property crime doesn't impact people.
"We want the community's help to ensure that we can continue to focus on this important issue and continue to reduce property crime further," he said.
Deputy Commissioner Lee encouraged people to take "simple" steps, like taking valuables out of vehicles and keeping keys out of sight.
He encouraged people to report crimes to police and keep detailed notes about what had been taken.
Reports about property crime can be made online, with Deputy Commissioner Lee saying this portal was being increasingly well-used.
"From our perspective, it makes it more efficient for us in terms of the way that reporting comes in and opens up our call takers for other crime where we may need to respond more urgently," he explained.
"[It's] a valuable mechanism [for] people to report to us so we have those records available for property that has been stolen."
He said the campaign would also be translated and rolled out to Canberra's multicultural community throughout the coming weeks.
The Outsmart the Offender campaign will run for nine weeks. More information is available at ACT policing.