Anne Fursman is trying to keep up with the soaring cost of keeping her central Queensland business open after multiple break-ins.
Thieves have targeted her Yeppoon sports store six times in 10 months, causing her insurance premium to double.
"We had a ram raid, a car came through the big glass sliding doors and it took three weeks to get those fixed and we had another break-in during that period," Ms Fursman said.
"We had to renew our insurance and the only one that would take us on was the one we were with at the time.
"And obviously, they jacked up the premium from $12,000 to $24,000 so they could recoup the money they had to pay us out."
Ms Fursman has spent thousands of dollars on her store to protect it from damage. (ABC Capricornia: Jessica Clifford)
The insurance company paid $100,000 for the damage to the business.
Ms Fursman spent $20,000 to install perspex over the front of the windows but it made no difference to her premium.
"When it's not your fault, why should you be paying the excessive premiums ... I find it hard to understand why I have to foot the bill for something that it is totally out of my control," she said.
Insurance premiums rise
Senior lecturer at Griffith University's Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Di Johnson, said insurance premiums rose between 20–30 per cent across Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There is a rising cost for doing business," she said.
Insurance premiums rose between 20–30 per cent across Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. (ABC Capricornia: Jessica Clifford)
"In the last quarter alone, general insurance had a profit of $1.4 billion.
"There does seem to be a disproportionate increase [to premiums] in some ways compared to the inflationary impact."
Youth crime declines
The latest statistics from Queensland Police show youth offending dropped by 6.7 per cent across the state in 2023/24 when compared to the previous financial year.
In the Capricornia district, in central Queensland, juvenile crime decreased by 20.2 per cent over the same time period.
Queensland police say youth offending reduced in 2023/24 compared to the previous financial year. (AAP: Dan Peled)
Acting officer-in-charge of the Rockhampton Child Protection Unit, Jim Edwards, attributed the fall in youth offences to the success of early intervention programs.
"We've got a lot of programs with Youth Justice, we've also got our youth co-responder teams working there as well and we've got community groups which have all been pitching in," he said.
Mr Edwards said the majority of youth offenders were known to police.
"It's a general rule that your top 10 per cent will be responsible for 90 per cent of the crime … especially when you're talking about property related crime," he said.
But for business owner Brad Neven, the statistics did not reflect the experiences he has had with young offenders.
Five thieves broke into his Yeppoon home last year and stole a motorbike, multiple sets of car keys and wallets while his family was inside.
"We had people in the shower, people in the bedroom, me and the wife were downstairs," Mr Neven said.
"It's incredulous that they would do that at six-thirty in the morning, in daylight."
Brad Neven says his insurance premiums have increased substantially. (ABC Capricornia: Jessica Clifford)
In a cruel twist of fate, thieves also targeted his business' machinery yard last month.
"My insurance premiums have gone up substantially," Mr Neven said.
"I don't want to live in a society where I have to have barbed wire around my business, which we do have."
Paying the price
A spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said wherever you lived, there was upward pressure being put on insurance premiums.
"This is because of the escalating costs of natural disasters, the increasing value of homes and vehicles making them more expensive to replace, inflation pushing up building and vehicle repair costs, and the increasing cost of doing business for insurers," the spokesperson said.
"However, insurance prices risk, and a higher premium generally indicates higher risk.
"The ICA's strong advice for all customers is to frequently shop around and compare policies to find the best deal."