In separate incidents in Rundle Mall this week, a retail worker was hospitalised after being assaulted by a 15-year-old and two men armed with an axe shoplifted a sports store.

SA Police are also attending a meeting with local businesses on Thursday over their concerns about CBD crime.

“There’s no doubt the retail sector is facing really concerning problems right now with retail crime,” Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association secretary Josh Peak said.

Peak said the issue extended beyond the CBD, with shop owners and staff noticing an increase in threats and “brazen” shoplifting across the board.

“Not a week goes by where we don’t hear about theft and violence occurring in our petrol stations,” he said.

“So additional resources are certainly welcome, and I think we also need to have a conversation about what kind of security measures shopping centres are providing and major shops are providing so that it’s not workers that feel like they’re having to run asset protection.”

Crime statistics show shop theft jumped by almost a third last year as cost-of-living pressures grew.

Police Minister Joe Szakacs said people were rightfully outraged about the “disgusting” assaults on workers who were simply going about their jobs.

“I think it’s atrocious, some of the unrelated incidences that we’ve seen this week,” he said.

A surge of police, including officers from the security response section and mounted and dog units, will provide a visible presence in Rundle Mall.

“This is about ensuring that people do feel the comfort and do feel the ease and which we very reasonably have seen this week has shaken that confidence in retailers as well as staff,” Szakacs said.

The state opposition called for the latest crime statistics to be released, given no data has yet been published for 2024.