Search

Violent crime, with the intention of causing (or threatening) physical harm or death to the victim, attracts more attention and debate than other forms of crime. Sustained media attention combined with high-profile incidents - such as the shootings at Port Arthur (Tasmania), and Monash University and Flinders Lane in Melbourne; gang rapes in Sydney; and organised crime-related murders - have prompted a view among the Australian public that violent crime is increasing in Australia.

Foreword | Worldwide concern about the impact of climate change, population growth and resource depletion will continue to drive a focus on environmental harms. Tackling and reducing these harms will inevitably lead to greater regulation and further criminalisation of both intentional and negligent acts by individuals, business and government. This paper discusses what can be learned from traditional crime prevention to reduce and prevent environmental harm.

Foreword | Over the past 10-15 years, although the overall use of firearms in violent crime has declined, handguns have increasingly become the firearm of choice in both Australia and other English-speaking countries. Handguns are often used as a means of protection, particularly among people involved in gangs and the drugs market, and their concealable nature, high firepower and large calibre are often cited as features prompting their acquisition by the criminal community.

Foreword | In the past decade, there has been an increasing reliance on electronic means of transferring funds for personal and business purposes. One recent development has been the emergence of plastic cards with the capacity to store value electronically, which can be used for a range of retail transactions. With the advent of comprehensive anti-money laundering laws throughout the developed world, criminals are turning to alternative ways of moving funds across borders to circumvent reporting and detection systems.

Link to full report (RPP 90): Reintegration of Indigenous prisoners

Foreword | It is well-documented that crime rates and the prevalence of mental illness are both higher in areas with pronounced levels of social disorganisation. Far less is known about the association of disadvantaged community conditions with criminal behaviour and mental illness.

Foreword | Increasing demand for Australian seafood overseas and at home is driving both legal and illegal markets, heightening the need for sustainable harvesting and management. Though illegal activity in the Australian domestic fishing industry has long been thought to be small-scale and opportunistic, significant numbers are regularly flouting the regulations. Some organised criminal activity too is evident, in high-value, low-volume fish stocks, such as abalone and rock lobster.

Foreword | As police are often the first point of contact in domestic and family violence incidents they are in a unique position to respond to, intervene in, and be proactive about, preventing family violence. With indications that the volume of recorded violence has increased and the complexity of family violence matters has increased police workloads, police face many challenges in responding in an effective and timely manner to reported incidents.

Foreword | The probability that a young person will have exposure to pornography prior to the age of 18 - the legal age in Australia at which it is permissible to view and purchase such materials - is very high. Concern exists, among both parents and policymakers, that widespread, premature exposure to pornography is changing the nature of sexual attitudes, behaviours, and intimate relationships and potentially contributing to sexual violence in society.

Foreword | To date, research on stalking has focused almost exclusively on adults. This paper examines the nature of stalking among adolescents to determine the characteristics of stalkers and their victims and the utility of intervention orders for managing this behaviour. Its findings indicate that a majority of perpetrators are male and almost all victims know their stalker, with prior relationships including ex-school peers, family members, ex-intimate partners and former friends.

Foreword | At 30 June 2006, 23 percent of Australian police were women, almost double the percentage in 1996. Despite this change, the issues relevant a decade earlier remain today, namely difficulties in recruitment and deployment and the low representation of women within senior ranks. This paper examines the career paths of one cohort of police sworn in during 1991 in a number of jurisdictions, to examine what differences, if any, exist between the male and female personnel in terms of recruitment, rank attainment, departures and deployment.

Foreword | Using jurors to ascertain public opinion on sentencing has a number of advantages over other methods. Jurors' opinions are based on informed judgements rather than uninformed, intuitive responses and they have detailed knowledge of the offence and a sense of the offender as a real person. Using a sample of jurors from Tasmanian courts, this study examined the utility of using jurors to gauge public opinion on sentencing and as a means of informing the public about crime and sentencing issues.

Foreword | International research suggests alcohol consumption increases the number of homicides and that homicides involving alcohol differ significantly to non alcohol-related homicides. The current study sought to build on the limited Australian research on alcohol-related homicide by examining solved homicides recorded in the National Homicide Monitoring Program over a six year period.