Accessing the family violence provision: enhancing migrant women’s safety. This project aims to investigate the operation of the Family Violence Provision (Migration Regulations (Clth) 1994), designed to act as a safety net for women on temporary visas whose relationships break down due to family violence. The project expects to generate new knowledge about awareness and application processes and outcomes. Using a multi-method approach this will be the first study to examine the operation of the ....Accessing the family violence provision: enhancing migrant women’s safety. This project aims to investigate the operation of the Family Violence Provision (Migration Regulations (Clth) 1994), designed to act as a safety net for women on temporary visas whose relationships break down due to family violence. The project expects to generate new knowledge about awareness and application processes and outcomes. Using a multi-method approach this will be the first study to examine the operation of the Provision. The outcomes will offer direct benefit to the Partner Organisations, and to national stakeholders providing support to migrant women. The project is expected to strengthen support for women who have experienced family violence for whom this provision was designed. Read moreRead less
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
Assessing Readiness for Treatment in Violent Offenders. In recent years criminal justice systems have increasingly identified violent offenders as a key target group for rehabilitation programs and anger management programs have now been widely implemented in most jurisdictions. However, recent research evaluating the outcomes of these anger management programs suggests that only some participants are likely to benefit. The aim of this research is to develop a method of identifying the individua ....Assessing Readiness for Treatment in Violent Offenders. In recent years criminal justice systems have increasingly identified violent offenders as a key target group for rehabilitation programs and anger management programs have now been widely implemented in most jurisdictions. However, recent research evaluating the outcomes of these anger management programs suggests that only some participants are likely to benefit. The aim of this research is to develop a method of identifying the individual characteristics of those who are likely to benefit, so that resources and interventions can be targeted. The research will help to improve the effectiveness of program delivery thereby contributing to the reduction of violent crime.Read moreRead less
An Evaluation of Suspended Sentences of Imprisonment. A suspended sentence is a fixed term of imprisonment, the execution of which has been suspended in whole or in part. It is widely used in most Australian jurisdictions. A conflict between public and legal perceptions about the severity of this sanction contributes to a lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system and makes abolition or restrictions on the use of suspended sentences a real possibility when governments feel pressure ....An Evaluation of Suspended Sentences of Imprisonment. A suspended sentence is a fixed term of imprisonment, the execution of which has been suspended in whole or in part. It is widely used in most Australian jurisdictions. A conflict between public and legal perceptions about the severity of this sanction contributes to a lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system and makes abolition or restrictions on the use of suspended sentences a real possibility when governments feel pressured to be tough on crime. This project aims to explore the use of the suspended sentence and to evaluate its efficacy as an alternative to imprisonment.
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Restorative Justice for Victims and Serious Offenders. This project investigates how to reduce the human costs of serious crime through Restorative Justice (RJ) processes that can help victims recover from the trauma of serious crimes and hold offenders accountable for their actions. The project will (1) provide an independent and rigorous assessment of the RJ program for the industry partner, (2) contribute to an evidence-based national debate on policy responses to serious crimes through ident ....Restorative Justice for Victims and Serious Offenders. This project investigates how to reduce the human costs of serious crime through Restorative Justice (RJ) processes that can help victims recover from the trauma of serious crimes and hold offenders accountable for their actions. The project will (1) provide an independent and rigorous assessment of the RJ program for the industry partner, (2) contribute to an evidence-based national debate on policy responses to serious crimes through identifying the strengths and limitations of RJ and showing how RJ can be optimally practised to maximise benefits for all participants and the wider community, and (3) contribute significantly to the theory and practice of RJ, enhancing Australia's international reputation as a leader in this research area.Read moreRead less
Policing services and the mentally ill: An evidence-based good practice model. Community safety is at the forefront of policing policy and procedure. As gatekeepers to the criminal justice (and to a lesser extent the mental health) systems, the police play a pivotal role in promoting and maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of the community. This programme of research will provide much needed quality information and empirical evidence about the current practices, policies, and procedures ....Policing services and the mentally ill: An evidence-based good practice model. Community safety is at the forefront of policing policy and procedure. As gatekeepers to the criminal justice (and to a lesser extent the mental health) systems, the police play a pivotal role in promoting and maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of the community. This programme of research will provide much needed quality information and empirical evidence about the current practices, policies, and procedures for dealing with the mentally ill who come into contact with the police. In a broader sense the research will have dramatic, wide-reaching practical outputs for all of Australia, and help contribute to increased levels of community safety and reduced levels of victimisation of some of the most vulnerable in our society.Read moreRead less
Illicit drug profiling in forensic intelligence. Illicit drug profiling in forensic intelligence. This project aims to develop an optimised methodology that uses illicit drug profiling for operational intelligence. The fight against the illicit drug trade suffers from a relatively ineffective use of forensic science, predominantly applied as a reactive tool for court purposes after the commission of a crime, and a general under-utilisation of available information by Australian forensic drug lab ....Illicit drug profiling in forensic intelligence. Illicit drug profiling in forensic intelligence. This project aims to develop an optimised methodology that uses illicit drug profiling for operational intelligence. The fight against the illicit drug trade suffers from a relatively ineffective use of forensic science, predominantly applied as a reactive tool for court purposes after the commission of a crime, and a general under-utilisation of available information by Australian forensic drug laboratories whose scientific results contribute minimally to active operations. This project’s methodology, which uses forensic science proactively for intelligence rather than reactively for courts, is expected to make the fight against organised crime more effective and support the three pillars of the Australian National Drug Strategy (supply, demand and harm reduction).Read moreRead less
Post-release support for women prisoners - processes of psychological and social transition. The failure of women prisoners to make a successful transition back to the community is one of the most significant problems of modern penology. Woman to Woman is an innovative mentoring and post-release support program developed by the Victorian Association for the Care and Resettlement of Prisoners. The goal of the research is to study how post-release support is delivered within a mentoring relation ....Post-release support for women prisoners - processes of psychological and social transition. The failure of women prisoners to make a successful transition back to the community is one of the most significant problems of modern penology. Woman to Woman is an innovative mentoring and post-release support program developed by the Victorian Association for the Care and Resettlement of Prisoners. The goal of the research is to study how post-release support is delivered within a mentoring relationship. The research uses interviews and surveys to examine the way that women releasees deal with the material, social and personal problems they face in the difficult weeks and months after release. The mentoring relationship is considered from the perspective of both the women releasees and the mentors.Read moreRead less
Stopping domestic violence in urban and rural areas: evaluating and improving the effectiveness of domestic violence perpetrator programs. Domestic violence affects up to 36% of women (Mouzos et.al 2004). Its annual economic cost is $8.1b (Access Economics 2004). In 66% of cases children are present (Bagshaw et.al 1999). Effects on women and children are poor mental health, homelessness and impaired work/education performance (VicHealth 2004). As male perpetrators tend to be serial offenders (Ha ....Stopping domestic violence in urban and rural areas: evaluating and improving the effectiveness of domestic violence perpetrator programs. Domestic violence affects up to 36% of women (Mouzos et.al 2004). Its annual economic cost is $8.1b (Access Economics 2004). In 66% of cases children are present (Bagshaw et.al 1999). Effects on women and children are poor mental health, homelessness and impaired work/education performance (VicHealth 2004). As male perpetrators tend to be serial offenders (Hansen et al 2004), there are Australian programs to stop the violence. There are limited and contentious findings about their value and no published evaluation of programs in rural Australia. This research addresses these significant knowledge gaps and is nationally beneficial as the knowledge can ultimately reduce domestic violence prevalence.Read moreRead less
Targeted crime: policing and social inclusion. This project will undertake a criminological study of the policing of targeted incidents and crime, that is, incidents and crimes motivated by bias, prejudice or hatred towards members of particular groups, communities and individuals. It will develop a best practice policing framework for targeted crimes and incidents.