Qld car owners at greater theft risk: RACQ

Queenslanders are being warned organised criminals may soon be targeting their cars as government funding for a national initiative wanes.

The RACQ has urgently called on the state government to find the $205,000 needed to fund the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC).

"The only people who will celebrate the dissolution of this council are criminals," the RACQ's Paul Turner said.

The NMVTRC, due to collapse next week, was set up in 1999 when Australia had the highest rate of vehicle theft in the developed world.

The council's latest report showed Queensland had the highest increase in profit-motivated car theft nationally in the past 12 months, Mr Turner said.

He pointed to Melbourne's Apex Gang as an example of the sort of organised theft that could affect Queensland.