Australians are feeling safer and break-ins and vandalism are falling despite scare tactics from politicians and the media, the Australia Institute says.
As a federal election looms, the think tank has released a report it says shows tough-on-crime policies don't result in improved perceptions of safety.
The institute's director of research David Baker says what makes people feel safe doesn't correspond with hardline crime policies.
"Western Australia brought in mandatory sentencing for property crime in 1996 and it has fallen behind other Australian states when it comes to improved feelings of safety within the community," he said in a statement.
"Ironically, tough on crime policies could in turn increase levels of nervousness."
Australian Bureau of Statistics data show property crime rates dropped across the country in the three years to 2011-12.
But that's not reflected in the public conversation, the report found.
"There is a reality gap between declining crime rates and the popular rhetoric of tough-on-crime media stories and political policies," it says.
Between 2001 and 2011 feelings of safety, as reported in Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia surveys, increased from 7.9 out of ten to 8.1.
Over the same period, property crime rates more than halved.
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