Victoria has experienced its biggest drop in its overall crime rate in 12 years, but sexual assaults and family violence remain the biggest problem areas, the latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) reveal.

Key points: 6.2 per cent drop in overall crime in the last year

6.2 per cent drop in overall crime in the last year Crime has fallen or is stable in almost all local government areas

Crime has fallen or is stable in almost all local government areas Arson, theft, burglary are down; family violence, sexual offences up

Arson, theft, burglary are down; family violence, sexual offences up Warning from police to be very careful about social media meet-ups

The overall crime rate in the state dropped by 6.2 per cent in the 12 months to September 30, largely thanks to a fall in theft from cars and aggravated burglaries.

But sexual assault and robberies remained on the rise.

"What that [data] has shown is that in every single LGA (local government area) crime has either been stable or gone down except for three," Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

"This is the biggest decline, a significant decrease, since 2005.

"So I think if you look at the crime stats over the past 18 months, I think we are heading in the right direction and there is a trend here, a downward trend."

Ms Neville said the figures were encouraging but more work needed to be done to reduce family violence, with over 90,000 offences recorded last year.

Family violence accounts for 17.5 per of all crime in the state, and Ms Neville said the "silent crime" left a "lifetime legacy."

Crime trends since October 2015 Offence Change Arson Down 24.6 per cent Theft Down 11.5 per cent Burglary/break and enter Down 9.7 per cent Property damage Down 4.1 per cent Sexual offences Up 18 per cent Robbery Up 12.6 per cent Dangerous and negligent acts Up 13.7 per cent Deception Up 8.5 per cent Source: Crime Statistics Agency

Ms Neville said the state was also focused on reducing robberies on service stations and convenience stores.

"People shouldn't have to feel scared going to work, and so [we're] getting on top of that," she said.

"They're small numbers, only an extra 59 [robberies], but you think about the numbers of people that are impacted by those crimes and how long it takes people to recover — if they do — that's the sort of crime that for me, we're going to continue to focus on."

'Don't invite an online date to your home'

Crimes relating to social media dating apps like Tinder were beginning to show up in the crime statistics, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp from Victoria Police said, but the force needed to do more work on the subject.

Local areas with the most crime Local government area Offences per 100,000 people Trend Melbourne 18,334 Down 8.6 per cent Latrobe 12,945 Down 5.2 per cent Yarra 11,284 Down 7.5 per cent Mildura 9,277 Down 1.5 per cent Greater Shepparton 9,242 Down 4.3 per cent Source: Crime Statistics Agency

He cautioned people to be "very, very careful" when meeting people through the apps.

"We know that people are engaging via social media and some of those people do end up the victims of a sexual offence or an assault, or [have] some property stolen," he said.

"If you are connecting with someone online, don't invite them to your home. If you're going to meet in a public place, make sure someone else knows where you're going."

Government, police deny crime stats leak

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said he was concerned the statistics had been selectively leaked to the Herald Sun newspaper, after a story was published before the data was officially released.

Similar accusations of a leak caused an uproar in the lead-up to the 2010 state election, and accusations the compilation of the data had been politicised.

Ms Neville flatly rejected the accusation.

"Police collect the data. They are constantly talking to media about the trends in crime," she said.

"There were no statistics leaked, absolutely none."

Deputy Commissioner Crisp denied data from the CSA had been released ahead of time.

"What we've talked about is trends, and we've had a conversation with the crime stats agency about that," he said.

"It's for me to talk about how we're traveling in relation to our crime statistics, what I'm seeing in terms of our intelligence and our trends.

"That's all we've spoken about to the media."