Does Investment in Education Lead to a Decrease in Crime Rate?

Vishakan Ponnusamy s4004390

Crime Rates Over Time (2016-2022)

School Funding per Student

Reading NAPLAN Scores (2016–2022)

Writing NAPLAN Scores (2016–2022)

Spelling NAPLAN Scores (2016–2022)

Grammar NAPLAN Scores (2016–2022)

Numeracy NAPLAN Scores (2016–2022)

Interpreting the Graphs

  • The Crime Rates over Time graph shows the trend of crime rate with Bayside having the lowest crime rate and being steady across the seven year snapshot, with Dandenong and Ballarat having much higher crime rates but are both trending downwards across the 7 year snapshot.

  • The school funding per student graph shows the overall trend of school funding when adjusted for inflation (as of 2024) is on the upwards trend for Ballarat and Dandenong, which also coincides with their lowering crime rates, while bayside was more erratic it still maintains a substantially higher level of funding than Ballarat.

  • The NAPLAN scores show the results per category for the 3 local government areas, with bayside almost always scoring above the other two areas as well as above state and national averages, with Dandenong and Ballarat mostly maintaining the same scores that typically are below state and national averages.

  • A negative correlation can be seen between school funding increasing and crime rates decreasing, however, with the NAPLAN scores showing little to no correlation with either funding nor crime rates, it is clear that a wider breadth of variables need to be considered when discussing the cause of crime rates increasing or decreasing - but it cannot be ignored that school funding going up could be a significant influence on crime rates going down in the future.

References

-Land.Vic. (2024, September 2). Locality names and boundary maps. Land.Vic. https://www.land.vic.gov.au/place-naming/services-and-resources/locality-names-and-boundary-maps

-ACARA. (2025). My School. Myschool.edu.au. https://myschool.edu.au/

-State, V. (2017, December 31). Homepage | Crime Statistics Agency Victoria. Vic.gov.au. https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/

-Australian Bureau Of Statistics. (2025). Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government.

-Abs.gov.au; Australian Bureau of Statistics. https://www.abs.gov.au/ Reserve Bank of Australia. (2024). Inflation Calculator | RBA. Reserve Bank of Australia. https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/

-Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2024). NAPLAN national results. Www.acara.edu.au; Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/naplan-national-results