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A recent publication by the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that Indigenous Australians account for a disproportionately high number of both homicide victims and offenders. Although Indigenous Australians represent approximately two per cent of the total Australian population, they accounted for 15.1 per cent of homicide victims and 15.7 per cent of homicide offenders over the 11-year period between July 1989 and June 2000. The rate per 100,000 for homicide victimisation of Indigenous persons fluctuated between 12.6 and 13.8 in the early 1990s.

Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA): 2000 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Police Detainees, a report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, shows that Bankstown and Parramatta sites have a higher prevalence of opiate use among males detained by police compared with East Perth and Southport. Figures also show that the percentage of male detainees testing positive to opiates in Southport and East Perth have remained relatively stable for two years.

A study of 5,000 Australians aged between 12 and 20 has found that up to one quarter have witnessed physical domestic violence against their mother or stepmother. In the study, physical domestic violence was defined as including 'threw something at', 'tried to hit', 'hit in defence', 'hit when unprovoked', 'threatened with knife or gun' and 'used knife or gun'. The study is the largest research project of its kind in Australia.

A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, "Australian Deaths in Custody and Custody-related Police Operations, 2000", states that during 2000 there was a total of 91 deaths in all forms of custody in Australia. In 1999 there were 85 custodial deaths. In 2000 the majority of deaths occurred in prison custody with 64 deaths. Two deaths occurred in juvenile detention during this time. There was a total of 17 Indigenous deaths in custody in the year 2000-11 of those deaths occurred in prison custody, five in police custody and one death in a juvenile detention centre.

Older people in Australia have lower crime victimisation rates than the population as a whole according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Criminology, "The Victimisation of Older Australians". Generally, personal offence victimisation rates remain the lowest for those aged 65 years and older. The rate of assault for people aged over 65 is 1.8 per 100 persons; this compares to a rate of 7.8 per 100 persons in the general population. Rates of robbery, theft from a person, break and enter, vehicle theft and consumer fraud were also lower for older people.

The 10th annual Australian Violence Prevention Awards were announced in Canberra on 18 October 2001. The two national winners were the projects When Love Hurts and the Port Augusta Aboriginal Families Project. Each winner received $10,000. The project Safer Times Round Albury-Wodonga for Women (STRAWS) won the Special Drugs and Alcohol Category Award and $10,000.

According to a report released by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), the recent heroin drought in Australia has resulted in dramatic drops in heroin use and expenditure as well as in the number of heroin overdoses. The BOCSAR report cites results of urinalysis testing of arrestees in Bankstown and Parramatta, conducted as part of the Australian Institute of Criminology's Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project.

A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, "Crime Reduction Through Product Design", highlights a number of ways in which technology is increasingly being used to reduce or prevent crime. Crime reduction through product design (CRPD) involves integrating protective features into products in order to reduce their potential to become targets of criminal activity, as well as preventing their use as instruments of crime. The term "product" encompasses any physical property and forms of currency, as well as electronic information and computer software.

In response to escalating burglary rates in the Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Federal Police has, over recent years, introduced a series of crime reduction strategies in Canberra. These operations have been effective in achieving a short-term reduction in burglary rates, but the number of burglaries has risen again after the cessation of the operation (though not to pre-operation rates).

A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, "Solvability Factors of Homicide in Australia: An Exploratory Analysis", has identified some of the main differences between solved and unsolved homicides.

A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology estimates that arrests are made in only 16 per cent of car theft cases. In 1998 there were 131,600 vehicles recorded stolen in Australia. In the same year approximately 21,000 offenders were charged with motor vehicle theft. Of adult offenders, one-fifth (n=3,254) were convicted of the offence and a further one-third (n=1,140) imprisoned. In other words, only one in every 90 incidents involving an adult offender resulted in a custodial sentence.

Knives or other sharp instruments are the most frequently used weapons in armed robberies in Australia, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology. The report, Weapon Involvement in Armed Robbery, states that knives or other sharp instruments are used in more than half of all armed robbery incidents. The next most commonly used weapons are firearms, which are used in about one-fifth of armed robberies.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released a report detailing the vulnerabilities to criminal activity facing Australia's diamond industry. "The Illicit Market in Diamonds" report identifies ways in which diamonds may be criminally acquired and/or used, explores potential losses suffered by both the Australian and global diamond markets as a result of crime, as well as possible links to other forms of transnational criminal activity (such as drug and arms dealing).

Heroin use in the Australian Capital Territory has fallen, according to figures released by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. Data collected by the Australian Institute of Criminology from interviews with injecting drug users show a decline in the number of people injecting heroin "in the last six months". In 2000, 91 per cent of injecting drug users reported that they had injected heroin in the last six months, but in 2001 this figure was 82 per cent.

A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology has evaluated a program for managing bullying in schools. The program focuses on conflict resolution as a way of minimising bullying and the harm it causes. The program encourages children's active participation in addressing bullying and teaches five steps (known as the REACT keys) for dealing with the problem. The students who participated (from Year 5 in an ACT government school) had their feelings of safety at school measured on a four-point scale before and after taking part in the program.