The findings, which were released this morning, show a six and a half per cent decrease in overall crime throughout Ballarat in the last 12 months.

Ballarat Police Inspector Trevor Cornwill is pleased to see the rate drop, after crime had risen in each of the previous three years.

"They’re pleasing results as we've seen crime rates drop throughout the state and throughout the Central Highlands region,” Inspector Cornwill said.

He is attributing the drop to an increased focus on repeat offenders.

“I think it's our approach to how we're addressing crime at the moment, and that is looking at repeat offenders, they’re the people who have been hurting us the most, and committing the majority of the crimes.

“We've been deliberately targeting those people who have been causing us the most problems by arresting them early in their offending sprees."

Along with a drop in the overall crime rate, drug related offence rates dropped by ten per cent, sitting at their lowest point since 2013.

“Here in Ballarat we've got a drug response unit to target drug offences.

“There have been a 73 per cent increase in the number of people arrested in relation to drug offences, so we've started to see a flow on effect as we take away they main dealers in the town.”

Crimes against property also dropped to the lowest rate in the past ten years, which Inspector Cornwill attributed to a more focused approach.

“We believe more responsive patrols in certain crime hot spot areas have had a big impact. It's a small number of people committing a large number of crimes, so by arresting them, we’ve seen the rate drop.”

The only key figure that saw an increase was crimes against person, which rose slightly, which Inspector Cornwill explained wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“We're seeing this as a bit of a positive result, as it’s people coming forward and reporting crimes such as sexual abuse and family violence.

“I would think it to be another couple of years before we see those numbers plateau as we see people become more confident coming forward.”

Police Minister Lisa Neville said the state government’s “unprecedented investment in Victoria Police” is making a difference, with the crime rate “continuing to fall – quarter on quarter – as more frontline police hit the streets”. 

Opposition police spokesperson Edward O’Donohue has refuted the data.

“This election will be a referendum on who can fix violent crime in Victoria,” said Mr O’Donohue.

“While Victorians are less safe with increases in numbers of violent crimes, NSW is still experiencing dramatic declines in crime rates.”

Melbourne took out the top spot, sporting the highest crime rate throughout the state, with almost over three-and-a-half times the amount of recorded offences as Ballarat.

Ballarat however has a much higher crime rate compared to similar areas like Bendigo and Geelong.

Ballarat has 21 per cent more crime per 100,000 people than Bendigo, and 19 per cent more than Geelong.

Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.