Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has called out the "appalling behaviour" of teenagers in the south-east Melbourne beachside suburb of Mordialloc this week, where hundreds of teens appeared to invade a supermarket and start a brawl.
"What we've seen in the last couple of days on the beach and in the community was just disgraceful behaviour. It was disrespectful, it was childish, and at times it was violent," she said on Friday.
On Wednesday and Thursday, a large group of teens swarmed a local supermarket and the Mordialloc pier, causing public disorder.
On Wednesday, footage shows almost 200 teens entering a Woolworths, running through the aisles, pulling products off the shelves, and stealing.
The public order response team, police airwing and uniformed members attended the scene, and followed the large group to the nearby Mordialloc pier.
Officers were confronted with shouting, shoving and bottles thrown, with police responding using capsicum spray to disperse the crowd.
A 15-year-old Greater Dandenong boy, who has since been released, was arrested and interviewed by police. Three others were spoken to at the scene.
Victorian deputy police commissioner Bob Hill labelled the group a "brat pack" who caused "mayhem".
"Mark my words, each and every child offender that was observed, recorded on CCTV, recorded on social media or our body-worn camera will be spoken to by Victoria Police," he said on Thursday.
Detectives from the Moorabbin crime investigation unit are also investigating if the incident was pre-organised on social media.
The Woolworths store in Mordialloc closed its doors until further notice after teenagers stormed the shop. Source: Getty / SOPA Images/LightRocket
The victim was left with minor injuries, and police said she was shaken by the attack.
On Thursday, there were reports of a large group of youths in the area. A number of police units attended and most of the crowd moved on.
However, after receiving reports of two people being assaulted near the Mordialloc pier, police responded and dispersed the crowd.
Police will be increasing their presence in the community and continuing to patrol Mordialloc and surrounding areas.
Allan said: "We all need to send a clear message whether you're a parent or a premier or a teacher or a member of the community, that this is just unacceptable."
Crime incident reports up
A recent report by Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency has found the number of criminal incidents reported by Victoria Police was up 12.3 per cent in the year to 30 September 2025, reaching 483,313.
Property and deception offences were the highest, at 42,628. While crimes against a person increased by more than 5,510 in the same period.
The number of offences was 640,860, up 10.8 per cent from 578,189 the previous year.
Person victim reports and alleged offender and family incident reports all increased.
Victorian Opposition leader Jess Wilson said Allan needs to "ask yourself: 'are you doing enough to keep people safe here in Victoria?'"
In an effort to curb crime, the Allan government tightened bail laws in March and recently announced 'adult time for adult crime' laws for youth offenders.
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