Melbourne restaurant owner at breaking point 39 break-ins in one year

Jesse Singh is a small business owner at breaking point.

Singh says his Indian restaurant Daughter in Law has been broken into a staggering 39 times this year.

"Of course we're angry. You're angry because you know you're working hard," Singh said.

"You're working from 6am till one in the morning, and you come back to your businesses in the morning and your whole restaurant is smashed."

READ MORE: Australian mother accused of masterminding $90 million investment scheme

The constant repairs are financially crippling his Melbourne CBD business, costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

"This is the reason a lot of businesses [are] getting bankrupt in Victoria, We [are] already on a very thin margin," he said.

"Then something like this coming up ... it's 10 grand. So that's this week gone.

"So we lost no matter, even [though] we opened seven days, lunch and dinner, we have lost a weekly revenue."

READ MORE: Australian professor accused of leaving NY landlord $45k out-of-pocket

Singh is not alone.

It's led the Australian Retailers' Association to push for tougher legislation for crimes against retail workers.

"We'd like a dedicated police taskforce in place in every state and territory around the country and we also need to see worker protection orders introduced in every state and territory," Australian Retailers' Association chief industry affairs officer Fleur Brown said.

Watch the full video in the player above.