The proportion of crimes allegedly committed by offenders from Sudan in Victoria has been overestimated by a federal parliamentary committee, Victoria's crime statistics agency has said.

African youth crime has been the topic of heated public debate since the beginning of the year, when Federal Minister Greg Hunt claimed "African gang crime" was "out of control" in the state.

His comments came after a number of high-profile incidents blamed on groups of young African men, including the trashing of an Airbnb property in Werribee and the repeated destruction of a community centre in Tarneit.

Since then, the issue has been discussed at length, with statistics cited across the media, including the ABC, that 807 Sudanese people were alleged to have committed a crime in 2016, making up 1.4 per cent of the unique offender population.

Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) has now released a "statistical clarification", saying while the 807 figure was correct, the number only represented 1 per cent of the unique offender population.

The VCA noted that the error was originally produced by the Commonwealth Joint Committee on Migration's Inquiry into Migrant Settlement Outcomes in December 2017.

"Whilst the whole numbers in this paragraph of the report are correct and align with the evidence provided by the Crime Statistics Agency, the proportions were calculated by the authors of the report and are not correct," the agency's statement said.

"Regretfully, some of the proportions quoted in … the report have been reproduced in a number of media reports in recent times and may have been misleading."

The CSA also noted the statistics were "now quite out of date" and the same statistics for the most recent reference period, ending on September 2017, showed more alleged criminals were from the UK or Ireland than Sudan.

People born in Sudan make up just 0.1 per cent of Victoria's total population, or about 6,000 people.

Crimes committed, year ending September 2017

Country of birth Offenders Proportion of offender population Australia 59,048 71.7 per cent New Zealand 1,826 2.2 per cent India 1,155 1.4 per cent UK and Ireland 1,063 1.3 per cent Vietnam 920 1.1 per cent Sudan 846 1.0 per cent

Source: CSA

Victorian crime 'a national discussion'

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews again defended the state's handling of crime on ABC Radio Melbourne this morning.

"Are we letting perceptions of Victoria be defined by Peter Dutton, are we?" he said, referencing Mr Dutton's comments that people in Victoria were afraid to go out for dinner.

"It's the oldest trick in the book, make the most outrageous comments you can, have people deny them because they're not borne out by the facts, and then run around saying people have got their head in the sand," he said.

He said African leaders had acknowledged that a number of young people had "lost their way and doing some very bad things".

"That's why not only do police need to be resourced properly — and they are," he said.

"But we also need to look not to excuse this behaviour but to try and explain it, and that's why there is work to be done around employment, making sure that kids are at school … parents have got a role to play in this and community leaders do too."

The state's total crime rate last year fell by about 6 per cent, the biggest drop in 12 years.

Victorian Opposition spokesman for police Ed O'Donohue said he stood by both the federal and state Coalitions' concern about crime in Victoria.

"To the victims of crime who have suffered at the hands of some of these youths, they are not exaggerating the assault they've experienced, the home invasions they've experienced," he said.

"The fact that this issue is of national interest I think just reinforces the point we have a major problem in Victoria with lawlessness, with crime, particularly with a cohort with hardened youth that have no respect for authority and no fear of consequences."

The Opposition has made law and order one of its key platforms ahead of the Victorian state election later this year.