On 12 November 2024, 9 projects were recognised for their contribution to the prevention of crime and violence in Australian communities.
The awards were held at a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra. The winners were presented with their awards by the Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC MP, Attorney-General.
COMMUNITY WINNERS
Gold winner
Intensive Case Management Program
QUEENSLAND DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH JUSTICE
The Intensive Case Management Program is an evidence-based program designed to reduce youth offending. It provides an integrative framework to work intensively with young people assessed as having a high or very high risk of reoffending, as well as their family and support network to address the causes of chronic offending and build their capacity to lead a good life. The model incorporates the adaptation of internationally recognised frameworks: the ‘What Works’ theory, multi-systemic therapy, the Good Lives model, Collaborative Family Work, and Strengthening Families: Protective Factors Framework. The model uses comprehensive offence profiling and mapping and coordinated stakeholder collaboration to achieve sustainable behavioural change with families.
Silver winners
Alexis Family Violence Response Model
THE SALVATION ARMY
The Alexis Family Violence Response Model aims to reduce family violence for victim-survivors and to achieve accountability among perpetrators. This model also seeks to reduce secondary victimisation and decrease the incidence of family violence through interagency cooperation and collaboration. This aim is achieved by providing a coordinated cross-sectoral, multi-agency response to families who are assessed as high risk and who have repeated contact with police and support services due to family violence. In this manner, the Alexis Family Violence Response Model aims to identify and respond to family violence as soon as possible after an incident.
Pathways to Prevention Project
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
The Pathways to Prevention Project was a pioneering developmental crime prevention initiative in a disadvantaged, high-crime region of Brisbane that operated as a research–practice partnership involving families, seven state preschools and primary schools, and community agency Mission Australia. An enriched preschool program implemented by specialist Queensland Department of Education teachers in 2002 and 2003 developed four-year-olds’ oral language and communication skills and reduced by 56 percent the involvement of participating children by age 17 in court-adjudicated youth crime. When families also received support from the Mission Australia team, the offending rate was zero. A community-wide reduction of 20 percent in youth crime was also observed.
Bronze winners
Step Up: Stop, Think, Evaluate, Plan, Use skills and Patience
HOME BASE
Step Up is a program that works with adolescents aged 11 to 17 who are using violent behaviour in the home, towards family members or intimate partners. The program is a one-on-one case management, outreach model that works with both the young person and their family or intimate partner. Step Up is a curriculum-based intervention where teens learn and practise nonviolent, respectful ways of communicating and resolving conflict with those they have been abusive towards, while parents learn a model of respectful parenting that balances leadership and positive support, promoting non-violence in the family.
This is Not Who I Want to Be
PENINSULA COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRE
‘This is Not Who I Want to Be’ is an interactive theatre project for secondary students. It provides legal education on family violence and forced marriage to young people from multicultural communities. The project was designed in response to data showing that culturally and linguistically diverse teenage girls in the local government area of Casey were already experiencing controlling relationships and family violence, and that some were going on to forced marriages after leaving school. The project empowers young people by giving them knowledge of their legal rights and obligations and the tools to challenge violence-supporting attitudes to reduce family violence and forced marriage in their own community.
POLICE WINNERS
Gold winner
Public Transport Notification Project—STOPIT
VICTORIA POLICE
Unwanted sexual behaviour is prevalent on Victorian public transport and mainly affects women and girls. It affects when and where they use public transport, and after becoming a victim some never use public transport again. This unwanted sexual behaviour is significantly under-reported, making it difficult for police to address the issue. Launched in July 2022, Victoria Police’s innovative STOPIT service provides the public with the means and confidence to notify police of this behaviour. This enables police to apprehend offenders and prevent offences, leading to women and girls feeling safer and being safer on public transport.
Silver winners
Jack Changes the Game
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
Jack Changes the Game is a complete learning package to teach young children about online grooming. A picture book was developed to address key recommendations from research conducted in 2019 by the Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. The research outlined approaches to maximise prevention behaviours, including the development of resources and tools for information and support to complement education activities. The project includes the development of adult-led learning resources to help children aged five to eight years recognise the signs of online grooming and to encourage them to seek help. It forms part of a complete learning package, including background information and additional activities for parents/carers and teachers to ensure proper understanding and discussion of the topic.
Repeat Offender Disruption Strategy
QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE
Recidivism is a social problem, as a small proportion of the population commits a disproportionate amount crime. Evidence-based strategies to address early and persistent offenders are often constrained by resourcing and time, leaving many offenders without adequate support. The Queensland Police Service’s Repeat Offender Disruption Strategy uses nudge theory, which proposes that subtle changes in the choices presented to people can influence their behaviour, to explore whether transparent type 2 nudges could reduce recidivism. A randomised controlled trial was conducted, in which 355 offenders received an SMS message offering support, 24 to 48 hours after being charged. Results showed the nudges group had lower reoffending rates than the control group.
Youth Crime Prevention and Early Intervention Project
VICTORIA POLICE
The Youth Crime Prevention and Early Intervention Project is a joint initiative led by Victoria Police in partnership with West Justice, Victoria Legal Aid, the Youth Support and Advocacy Service, the Centre for Multicultural Youth and Youth Now. It aims to reduce the rate of offending and reoffending among children and young people by diverting them from the criminal justice system, minimising their contact with police and the courts. The project focuses on supporting police to issue warnings, cautions and fast-tracked diversion, and on improving referrals for children and young people to appropriate support services that can help address any underlying causes of offending behaviour.