Many of us are lucky enough to own our own homes in Australia. It is our birthright and certainly a worthy goal to achieve during our working lives. These homes can take many and varied shapes and forms. They can vary from the three-to-four-bedroom home on a quarter-acre block to a townhouse or villa. Also, it could be a one, two, or three-bedroom unit in a large block where there could be up to 30 or 40 other unit owners in the same complex. Regardless of whatever your choice to live in, it is your home, your place of refuge and you have the right not to have it violated by someone who may be drug affected or have other circumstances that are absolutely no concern of yours, and therefore you need not be victimised if you so choose.
Some of the units in a complex will be ground-floor units which will have areas of hidden gardens and common property and others will be above-ground level and perhaps are quite high, maybe even at the top of the complex. Having considered this then it will vary as to the risk that you will be exposed to from a break-in and a violation.
Units that are several floors high will have significantly less risk from anyone wanting to gain access through a window, given the height and the risk to themselves. It may not be necessary to have anything other than fly screens on the windows. The risk may be greater of someone leaning up against a fly screen and the fly wire not sustaining the weight and then falling through. In this case a security screen perhaps should be installed so as to prevent this from occurring. Also a window lock may be installed so as to lock the window slightly open to gain fresh air but prevent anyone from being able to fall through the fly screen. Children love to bounce and play on beds and accidents can occur and have occurred with grave consequences and so the risk in this case is not from someone coming in as much as someone falling out.
Ground-floor units can be at great risk of someone gaining entry through a window particularly if that window is in a hidden area. 316 Marine grade stainless steel window grilles can be a very good addition to your windows to add security and allow you to have fresh air. Window locks also can be beneficial and can be used in conjunction with window grilles.
It is most likely that if an entry into a unit is to be gained then it will be from someone trying to penetrate the front door. Most Australian units, particularly those built in later years, will have fireproof wooden doors with deadlocks fitted to them. Most also will have a small viewing device that allows you to see through the door whilst the door is closed. It is very frightening to open the door up to a complete stranger. The installation of good-quality security doors can be very beneficial for this reason and will also add additional security to your front and rear doors if you do happen to have doors that open onto balconies or rear porches.
One of the recommendations that can be beneficial also is to become an active member in your corporate body so as to meet your neighbours and discuss possible issues with your particular building with a view to offer some suggestions that may help fix some of these issues. This corporate body is the place where independent funds can be raised for particular security upgrades by putting in place levies to all the owners in the corporation.
In closing I believe most home units can offer possibly the best security of all home types in Australia. Having said that it is far better to be proactive rather than reactive and so I would encourage you to possibly have someone who understands the vulnerabilities of low security and have them inspect your particular home unit complex to offer you some suggestions in regard to possible upgrades if necessary.
Seconline is a website that is created for customers to purchase security screens and security screen doors online and have them ship direct to their chosen address.
