Crime rate drop linked to vocational education

A significant drop in Victoria's crime rates has been linked to the state's massive expansion of vocational education and training according to new research from the Melbourne Institute.

While most debate has focused on private training college rorts and cost blow outs, University of Melbourne economists say the benefits of the controversial education reforms have been overlooked, writes Henrietta Cook in The Age

"What has been missing is that these reforms did increase access to publicly funded training and that has had positive flow on effects," says the Melbourne Institute's Cain Polidano.