Managing family objection to autopsy: a case study of the Queensland coronial system. Exploring how coroners, police, counsellors, and pathologists engage with families after the shock of a sudden or violent death, and the resulting development of an e-resource, enables a consistent and transparent whole system approach to be established. The expected benefits for the Coronial system will include: a decrease in unnecessary autopsies, a flow on to minimising staffing shortages, and an overall de ....Managing family objection to autopsy: a case study of the Queensland coronial system. Exploring how coroners, police, counsellors, and pathologists engage with families after the shock of a sudden or violent death, and the resulting development of an e-resource, enables a consistent and transparent whole system approach to be established. The expected benefits for the Coronial system will include: a decrease in unnecessary autopsies, a flow on to minimising staffing shortages, and an overall decrease in the cost of a death investigation. The benefits to the community will include: enhanced police relations with families, including those from minority religions and cultures, more informed and appropriate decision making by coroners, less invasive autopsies by pathologists, and more focused intervention by counsellors.Read moreRead less
Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to i ....Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to inform current law enforcement and sentencing practices and the development of risk assessment and intervention protocols for clinical use with online offenders. This should increase evidence-based practice with online sexual offenders and assist in preventing the sexual exploitation of children online and in the community.Read moreRead less
Gauging informed public opinion on sentencing sex offenders: a national study. Sex offences appear to attract the greatest community condemnation and desire to punish, particularly when involving predatory stranger rapists or when the victims are children. This national study aims to ascertain informed public opinion on sex offender sentencing by exploring the views of jurors in sex offence trials in all higher courts in Australia.
Understanding the relationship between mental illness and offending: implications for crime prevention and the management of mentally ill offenders. The criminal justice system struggles to cope with the challenge of mentally ill offenders. Yet unfortunately increasing numbers of mentally ill people are coming into contact with police, the courts and correctional institutions. Using a life-course criminological perspective, this project aims to understand the links between mental illness and of ....Understanding the relationship between mental illness and offending: implications for crime prevention and the management of mentally ill offenders. The criminal justice system struggles to cope with the challenge of mentally ill offenders. Yet unfortunately increasing numbers of mentally ill people are coming into contact with police, the courts and correctional institutions. Using a life-course criminological perspective, this project aims to understand the links between mental illness and offending. Such an understanding will provide the criminal justice system with strategies for managing and treating mentally ill offenders. More importantly, such an understanding can be used to intervene in circumstances that result in mentally ill people offending, improving their well-being and increasing community safety.Read moreRead less
Interpreters in court: witness credibility with interpreted testimony. The study will improve access to justice for non-English speaking witnesses, testifying in court through an interpreter. It achieves this by taking advantage of new wireless technologies to transform the social and technological environment of the courtroom.