Reducing imprisonment rates in Australia: international experiences, marginal populations and a focus on the overrepresentation of Indigenous people. The purpose of this study is to test the validity of factors influencing imprisonment rates and initiatives that have been trialed in other jurisdictions to decrease prison numbers for the Australian situation. The expected outcome is to identify ways to reduce the prison population, most particularly the over-representation of Indigenous people.
The last outlaw: Making a nation from the crimes of Jimmy Governor. This project aims to produce a legal history of the murderer Jimmy Governor to discover the extent to which law-making was generated by acts of law-breaking. The Australian Federation laid the foundations for the nation’s legal institutions under the rule of law. The Aboriginal serial killer, Jimmy Governor, was outlawed and convicted on the threshold of Federation, in 1900. Through Governor’s legal history, the project will pro ....The last outlaw: Making a nation from the crimes of Jimmy Governor. This project aims to produce a legal history of the murderer Jimmy Governor to discover the extent to which law-making was generated by acts of law-breaking. The Australian Federation laid the foundations for the nation’s legal institutions under the rule of law. The Aboriginal serial killer, Jimmy Governor, was outlawed and convicted on the threshold of Federation, in 1900. Through Governor’s legal history, the project will produce an account of the law and its outsiders at an important historical moment. This project expects to provide knowledge about punishment, surveillance and imprisonment in the emerging nation, and a history of the rules of evidence and criminal procedure.Read moreRead less
Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historica ....Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historical change. Tracking the rise and fall of prosecuted violence, the project will test current scholarly understanding about the history of violence, yield new insights about historical victimisation, and provide a critical background for understanding contemporary violence.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100189
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,000.00
Summary
Beyond Imported Understandings of Domestic Violence in the Pacific. High occurrences of domestic violence across the Pacific region threatens the growth and development of all sectors. This project aims to investigate local understandings of the causes, manifestations, and best-suited responses to the problem in the Pacific. It advances a study of local stakeholder’s perspectives of domestic violence in two of the least developed Pacific Island countries to generate non-Western, context-specific ....Beyond Imported Understandings of Domestic Violence in the Pacific. High occurrences of domestic violence across the Pacific region threatens the growth and development of all sectors. This project aims to investigate local understandings of the causes, manifestations, and best-suited responses to the problem in the Pacific. It advances a study of local stakeholder’s perspectives of domestic violence in two of the least developed Pacific Island countries to generate non-Western, context-specific insight into developing policies and practices to inform improved frontline responses. Expected outcomes include the development of an evidence base to inform contextually appropriate and innovative responses to domestic violence, with benefits to islander/indigenous communities and economies in Oceania.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Confocal microscope for high-resolution microtopographic analysis of surfaces in historical, forensic and polymer sciences. High-resolution analyses of microscopic patterns on surfaces using confocal microscopy can provide vital clues into the nature of ancient diets and environments, adaptive evolution, weapons used in crimes, and properties of polymers. This instrument will heighten Australia’s capacity for world-leading research in areas of major national importance.
Improving the communication of forensic science evidence to courts. Improving the communication of forensic science evidence to courts. The project aims to reduce the presentation of inaccurate and unscientific forensic science evidence to fact-finders by developing evidence-based recommendations for optimising accurate and effective communication between scientists and courts. The interdisciplinary approach, informed by law, cognitive and forensic science, aims to provide methods for expressing ....Improving the communication of forensic science evidence to courts. Improving the communication of forensic science evidence to courts. The project aims to reduce the presentation of inaccurate and unscientific forensic science evidence to fact-finders by developing evidence-based recommendations for optimising accurate and effective communication between scientists and courts. The interdisciplinary approach, informed by law, cognitive and forensic science, aims to provide methods for expressing opinions that meet stakeholder needs and can be implemented to improve the rectitude of criminal justice systems in Australia and around the world.Read moreRead less
Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families ....Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families. Expected outcomes for this project include an early warning detection tool to identify at-risk cases and overall improved accuracy in convictions. This will provide significant benefits, for criminal justice agencies, victims and accused individuals while positioning Australia as a world leader in the field.Read moreRead less
Examining the impact of remand and the utility of bail risk assessments. Australia has experienced soaring incarceration rates, driven by the pre-trial detention of unsentenced people pending trial, not by rising crime rates. The decision to remand a person into custody pending trial has implications for public safety and individual rights. Although the impact of remand has gained increasing importance given adverse coronial findings, no studies have examined the mental health and justice impact ....Examining the impact of remand and the utility of bail risk assessments. Australia has experienced soaring incarceration rates, driven by the pre-trial detention of unsentenced people pending trial, not by rising crime rates. The decision to remand a person into custody pending trial has implications for public safety and individual rights. Although the impact of remand has gained increasing importance given adverse coronial findings, no studies have examined the mental health and justice impacts of remand. This project seeks to examine the effect of remand on future crime, justice outcomes, and mental health outcomes. This project will also examine the factors associated with bail decisions and develop mathematical models designed to accurately forecast bail release outcomes and reduce demographic disparities. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101151
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$405,325.00
Summary
Building State responses to technology-facilitated domestic violence. This project aims to investigate one of Australia’s most pressing social problems: domestic violence and the emerging use of digital technology to enact and escalate abuse and stalking. Technology-facilitated domestic violence threatens psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing and safety (and signifies risk of homicide), and so warrants attention. Justice systems have a crucial role to play in preventing technology-faci ....Building State responses to technology-facilitated domestic violence. This project aims to investigate one of Australia’s most pressing social problems: domestic violence and the emerging use of digital technology to enact and escalate abuse and stalking. Technology-facilitated domestic violence threatens psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing and safety (and signifies risk of homicide), and so warrants attention. Justice systems have a crucial role to play in preventing technology-facilitated violence and safeguarding and empowering victim/survivors. This timely project seeks to assess existing State responses to and regulation of such harms. It expects to provide an evidence base to enhance and develop innovative policing and judicial policy and practice, with benefits to communities and economies.Read moreRead less
Justice Reinvestment in Australia: conceptual foundations for criminal justice innovation. This project will examine the characteristics of Justice Reinvestment programs used in other countries which reduce spending on prisons and reinvest the savings in high crime communities to reduce crime and build community services. This study will analyse whether such programs can be developed in the Australian context.