The draft terms of reference for the group will include voting members from the Wagga police, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, community and housing services, Aboriginal groups, the mayor and the state MP for Wagga.

The draft terms did not include a specific seat for Wagga Neighbourhood Watch, which has been campaigning for the working group's creation.

Multiple councillors told The Daily Advertiser that Neighbourhood Watch, along with other residents and groups, could apply for two community voting seats on the working group.

"Being involved in a formal group or not should not preclude someone who is interested in participating," Cr Vanessa Keenan said.

Cr Yvonne Braid proposed application process would make the group more representative.

"Neighbourhood Watch can apply to be on the working group," she said.

"I think we should have a number of community members and it would be good to have them from different areas of the city."

Cr Rod Kendall said it was important for the council to know each community applicant's background and expertise.

Wagga Neighbourhood Watch president Wayne Deaner said he was still examining the crime prevention working group draft terms of reference and declined to comment.

The next stage in establishing the working group comes as the latest statistics show that Wagga's council area is ranked top 10 out of 120 NSW councils for the prevalence of multiple types of property crime.

According to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Wagga has some of the highest rates per 100,000 residents of break and enter, motor vehicle theft, property damage and arson offences in 2018.

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As there are about 65,000 residents within Wagga's council boundaries, some other councils with higher populations had a higher numbers of offences.

Cr Kendall said he supported the proposal to base the working groups' actions on council's existing crime prevention plan.

"It's a good starting point but I don't think that's necessarily where it will finish," Cr Kendall said.

Cr Keenan said the council's "hands are tied" in terms of how much it could achieve in crime prevention as she believed the main issue was police resources.

"Compared to places like Kings Cross and Bankstown, we have double the workload for the number of police," she said.

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