Australia · change since last month · published monthly
October 2026 compared with September 2026
-39
points vs September 2026
▼Cooler than September 2026
Security took up less room in the news, in public discussion and in what people searched for in October 2026 than in September 2026.
The colour shows movement only: how Australia's overall temperature changed from one month to the next, on the same −50 to +50 scale as the Ligue's world map. Australia is only ever compared with itself, never with another country.
What is driving the reading
Three sources feed the thermometer. Each one is measured for
October 2026 and compared with its own usual level, then described in the same
words used everywhere on this page — warmer than usual, about normal, or cooler than usual — and
weighted into the overall temperature further down the page.
Behind the number
None of these examples decides the reading, and none of them is
chosen by hand. The number is computed from the whole volume of data collected — hundreds of
thousands of items a month — and what follows is a window onto what that data contained. Each panel
states exactly how its items were picked and which period they cover — and each of those sentences
is generated from the rule that was actually used, not written alongside it.
In the news
- Assault reported in Sydney, New South Wales
- Assault reported in Australia
- Assault reported in Sydney, New South Wales
- Assault reported in Sydney, New South Wales
- Assault reported in Australia
- Assault reported in Sydney, New South Wales
- Assault reported in Australia
- Assault reported in Sydney, New South Wales
How these were chosen. The most serious incidents in the news collected
for Australia in October 2026, the published month, ranked by the same severity weight the score
itself uses — an assault or a killing counts far more than an investigation or a protest —
and de-duplicated, so repeated reports of one incident appear once. Where severity ties, the
incident more outlets carried comes first, then the more recent one, and no two come from
the same day. These are the 8 highest
of 2748 distinct incidents. Each line is
assembled automatically from the news record's own fields, so the wording is the source's,
not an editor's.
What people discussed
- They absolutely ARE dangerous. One bit me in 2024 and I almost lost my leg. Had to have a tennis ball size abscess removed, and daily dressing changes for 3 mon
- This is completely outrageous This young man has shown himself to be reckless and dangerous, whose actions, whether intentional or not, led to the death of an
- I think my post last week about Uber/Didi drivers being shit must have gotten around, because 10 minutes ago I almost got hit by one. Long story short, there's
- Parent living in squalor - what to do? Does anyone know what the potential options are for elderly parents making poor choices and endangering themselves by liv
- Experienced sexual harassment on public transport today and completely froze. I genuinely cannot believe what happened to me recently. I was sitting on a tram
- My mother was made homeless because it wasn't safe to stay in her home (public housing) after being beaten by her neighbour. Suffice to say, I'm familiar with t
How these were chosen. The 6 days on which
safety came up most in public discussion for Australia
in October 2026, the published month, each measured against its own recent normal — the previous
30 days.
One
of the days in that period rose at least
one standard deviation above that normal.
Against each day is the single post that pushed it hardest — the one that read as most
unsafe once weighted by its upvotes — quoted as written and trimmed to fit. No post is
selected by a person.
What the coverage was about
Violent crime
59%
Protest and unrest
22%
Organised crime
10%
Cybercrime
6%
Theft and burglary
4%
How this was measured. Every security theme the news monitor tagged in
coverage about Australia in October 2026, counted and shown as a
share of that total. This is a breakdown of what was being covered, not of how hot it
was: a large share means the topic dominates the coverage, not that it is above normal.
Security reports, day by day
busier normal quieter
How this was measured. Each bar is one day of October 2026. It
compares the security events recorded in Australia's news with a normal day for that
weekday, the average of the same weekday over the previous 8 weeks, so the
weekend dip in news does not look like a quiet day. Coloured days were clearly busier or
quieter than normal; grey days were within the normal range. This chart describes news
coverage only and is not part of the reading.
Tone of the coverage, month by month
▲ Harsher than usual
How this was measured. The average tone of the security articles about
the country, each month compared with Australia's normal over the same months the
headline number uses. Bars above the line mean harsher (more negative) language than usual,
bars below it milder. The label is the gap from normal in per cent. A month is called harsher
or milder only when it is more than half a standard deviation away from its usual
month-to-month variation. This chart describes news coverage only and is not part of the
reading.
What people searched for
How this was measured. Google search interest in crime and safety topics
in Australia in October 2026, the published month.
Every topic is compared with its own usual level over the months before it — the same
rule, and the same month, as the headline number — so "warmer than usual" means more
searching than is normal for that topic here, not more than some other topic or some other
country.
Understanding Australia's overall temperature
The map above shows how Australia changed this month compared to September — whether security sentiment warmed or cooled.
The thermometer below shows how Australia compares to its normal level, giving context for whether the country is running warm, normal, or cool overall.
Australia · Security Temperature · published monthly
October 2026
+1
vs normal
Stable
Compared with Australia's own normal month — not with last month, and not with any other country.
- 0 is normal for Australia. The thermometer compares this month with how Australia usually looks — not with other places.
- Above 0 means security is taking up more room than usual in the news, in public discussion and in what people search for. Below 0 means less.
- The published number changes once a month. The data behind it is collected every day.
Month by month
Every point is one published month, measured against Australia's own
normal. The dashed line at 0 is that normal level.
How "normal" is set. Each month is compared with Australia's typical level over the months before it. For October 2026 that is 8 months, February to September 2026. Collection began in February 2026, so earlier months were compared with fewer (April 2026 with 2); the normal keeps growing until it spans the 12 months before each reading.