Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101215
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,461.00
Summary
New Bail Regimes: Reconceptualising Risk to Reduce Remand Imprisonment. More than one in three prisoners in Australia are on remand, double that of two decades ago. This project aims to investigate how risk management in new bail regimes affects accused individuals experiencing social disadvantage. It employs innovative critical criminological methods to generate much-needed knowledge about how criminal justice actors interpret and respond to risk in the bail decision-making process, and 'lived' ....New Bail Regimes: Reconceptualising Risk to Reduce Remand Imprisonment. More than one in three prisoners in Australia are on remand, double that of two decades ago. This project aims to investigate how risk management in new bail regimes affects accused individuals experiencing social disadvantage. It employs innovative critical criminological methods to generate much-needed knowledge about how criminal justice actors interpret and respond to risk in the bail decision-making process, and 'lived' experiences of bail conditions and remand imprisonment. Expected outcomes include a new framework for conceptualising risk in the context of bail. This should bring significant benefits to policymakers and law reformers seeking to reduce imprisonment and its impacts on disadvantaged groups.Read moreRead less
Criminalisation of poverty and homelessness in Australia: A national study. The project aims to assess the policing and enforcement of public order crimes and related offences (e.g. obstruct/disobey police, breach of bail, and minor property offences) on individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. The project endeavours to collect and analyse qualitative data from across Australia on the lived experience of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, regarding the impact of crimin ....Criminalisation of poverty and homelessness in Australia: A national study. The project aims to assess the policing and enforcement of public order crimes and related offences (e.g. obstruct/disobey police, breach of bail, and minor property offences) on individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. The project endeavours to collect and analyse qualitative data from across Australia on the lived experience of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, regarding the impact of criminal laws and police powers concerned with presence in, and movement around public places. It will particularly focus on the impact on women, children and Indigenous peoples. The outcomes will seek to reduce the criminalisation of homeless people, by identifying law and policy reform options, and comparing their cost with that of 'business as usual'.Read moreRead less
The non-fatal strangulation offence as a response to domestic violence. This project aims to review the application and experience of the non-fatal strangulation offence as a response to domestic violence. Through a mixed-methods design, the project will generate new knowledge about the operation of the non-fatal strangulation offence in practice. This is crucial given that many women escaping domestic violence report non-fatal strangulation from their past partner. Expected outcomes of the Proj ....The non-fatal strangulation offence as a response to domestic violence. This project aims to review the application and experience of the non-fatal strangulation offence as a response to domestic violence. Through a mixed-methods design, the project will generate new knowledge about the operation of the non-fatal strangulation offence in practice. This is crucial given that many women escaping domestic violence report non-fatal strangulation from their past partner. Expected outcomes of the Project include the development of law reform and policy recommendations to improve the operation of the offence, enhance service responses and develop professional education. This research will provide significant social and economic benefits through better understanding of the legal response to domestic violence.
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Asking the right questions: improving juror comprehension of judicial directions. Juror comprehension is fundamental to the role of juries in the criminal justice system. This project will comprehensively evaluate jurors' ability to comprehend both standard and modified judicial directions. Based on these results, 'model' processes for jury directions will be recommended, aimed at improving juror comprehension.
Countering misconceptions in child sexual assault cases with expert evidence and judicial directions. This project reduces miscarriages of justice by identifying topics about which jurors benefit from specialised knowledge by an expert witnesses and the best way to deliver that information so they are better equipped to appropriately assess the credibility of child victims and offenders and render verdicts in cases of child sexual assault.
Justice in the Streets? Responses to Public Homelessness and Public Dissent. This project focuses on legal and social regulation of city streets, including the impact on the increasing numbers of Australians experiencing public homelessness or engaging in public protest. Typical legal and policy responses tend towards criminalisation, exclusion and surveillance; the consequences for affected individuals include intensified social stratification and disadvantage along with risks of involvement in ....Justice in the Streets? Responses to Public Homelessness and Public Dissent. This project focuses on legal and social regulation of city streets, including the impact on the increasing numbers of Australians experiencing public homelessness or engaging in public protest. Typical legal and policy responses tend towards criminalisation, exclusion and surveillance; the consequences for affected individuals include intensified social stratification and disadvantage along with risks of involvement in the criminal justice system. This project examines legal, social and municipal strategies regarding public homelessness and public protest and investigates their impact on individuals and groups affected. Expected benefits include proposals for ways of reforming law and policy to achieve ‘spatial justice’ in city streets.Read moreRead less
Using jurors to gauge informed public opinion on sentencing. Policy makers and judicial officers are under increasing pressure to respond to public opinion on sentencing issues and yet gauging public opinion on these issues is problematic. This project will use a new means of ascertaining informed public opinion on sentencing issues to better inform policy makers and judicial officers.