Pre-blast screening of improvised explosive devices - a National counter-terrorism initiative. The proposed research is focused on the specific needs of Australian counter-terrorism interests, including those of border protection, the customs service, transport authorities, forensic laboratories, etc. The support of this proposal will ensure that Australia, and its States and Territories are protected against terrorist threats. The support provided by the collaborating organisations from the var ....Pre-blast screening of improvised explosive devices - a National counter-terrorism initiative. The proposed research is focused on the specific needs of Australian counter-terrorism interests, including those of border protection, the customs service, transport authorities, forensic laboratories, etc. The support of this proposal will ensure that Australia, and its States and Territories are protected against terrorist threats. The support provided by the collaborating organisations from the various Federal and State police and forensic agencies, and the customs service, etc, highlights the importance of this project to the nation. Finally, a PhD student and a research assistant will be involved with the project and will gain specialised skills positioning them to make strong contributions to Australia's counter-terrorism measures.Read moreRead less
Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Au ....Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Australian public sector. By identifying and promoting current best practice in workplace responses to public interest whistleblowing, the project will use the experience and perceptions of internal witnesses and first- and second-level managers to identify more routine strategies for preventing, reducing and addressing reprisals and other whistleblowing-related conflicts.Read moreRead less
Crime and CCTV in Australia: Understanding the Relationship. Crime costs Australia $32 billion annually (Mayhew, 2003). Increased criminal and terrorist activities, internationally and nationally have caused major breaches of security in public places, resulting in heightened investment in crime prevention strategies including Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). However, rigorous research into CCTV's effectiveness on crimes in public places has not been undertaken. This innovative project will ide ....Crime and CCTV in Australia: Understanding the Relationship. Crime costs Australia $32 billion annually (Mayhew, 2003). Increased criminal and terrorist activities, internationally and nationally have caused major breaches of security in public places, resulting in heightened investment in crime prevention strategies including Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). However, rigorous research into CCTV's effectiveness on crimes in public places has not been undertaken. This innovative project will identify CCTV's impact on crime and key socio-legal issues of security of public places. The outcomes will contribute to an important decision-making model for local, state, and federal departments, and private sector organisations responsible for CCTV and related crime prevention technologies. Read moreRead less
Intellectual disability, victimisation, challenging behaviour and offending. The expected national benefits that will arise from this research will include significant advances to policy and practice in the field, which will impact on service users and service providers at both individual and community levels. At the same time, this unique collaboration will foster research excellence, further develop interagency collaborations and thus advance Australia's research and clinical leadership in the ....Intellectual disability, victimisation, challenging behaviour and offending. The expected national benefits that will arise from this research will include significant advances to policy and practice in the field, which will impact on service users and service providers at both individual and community levels. At the same time, this unique collaboration will foster research excellence, further develop interagency collaborations and thus advance Australia's research and clinical leadership in the field of intellectual disability and community safety. Taken altogether, this research has a strong potential to lead to further collaborations focussing on research priorities of national and international significance. Read moreRead less
Investigating identity fraud control, management and policy: Australia in a global context. Identity fraud is recognised as a serious and significant problem in Australia by Government and industry, with estimates of losses ranging up to $4 billion per annum. This project aims to research identity fraud from an organisational and social perspective by investigating control, management and policy alternatives. Outcomes will include conceptual, effects and costing models of identity fraud, succe ....Investigating identity fraud control, management and policy: Australia in a global context. Identity fraud is recognised as a serious and significant problem in Australia by Government and industry, with estimates of losses ranging up to $4 billion per annum. This project aims to research identity fraud from an organisational and social perspective by investigating control, management and policy alternatives. Outcomes will include conceptual, effects and costing models of identity fraud, successful strategies for organisational management control, new techniques to improve prevention and detection, and comparative evaluations of social, legal and privacy implications. The research program will provide the missing research partnership that will inform control, management and policy decisions of national significance.Read moreRead less
A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving ....A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Child-Sex Offender Recidivism. The project has important implications for the prevention, prediction and treatment of sexual offences against children. New prevention strategies may be devised through the identification of individual, interpersonal and situational factors involved in sexual offence onset and recidivism. Better prediction models may be used to inform risk assessments for individuals applying to work with children, sentencing decisions involving child-sex offenders, and decisions about the suitability for release of child-sex offenders from prison. Finally, more effective approaches to treatment may be developed from a better understanding of risk factors involved in recidivism.Read moreRead less
The New Policing: Partnerships, Resources and Modes of Governance. This project promises to establish Australia as a world leader in policing research and policing practice. Following an exhaustive review of current approaches in Victoria and internationally, and backed up by needs assessments, a series of pilot programs at selected sites will allow the development of innovative models for securing and allocating resources that support innovative policing partnerships involving government, the b ....The New Policing: Partnerships, Resources and Modes of Governance. This project promises to establish Australia as a world leader in policing research and policing practice. Following an exhaustive review of current approaches in Victoria and internationally, and backed up by needs assessments, a series of pilot programs at selected sites will allow the development of innovative models for securing and allocating resources that support innovative policing partnerships involving government, the business sector, non-governmental agencies, community-based organizations and citizens. The collaboration with Victoria Police will provide a model for police-university partnership across Australia and the pilot programs developed will be replicable widely in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Policing for the 21st Century. This project will design and evaluate an innovative policing strategy for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The project team, including members of the Australian Federal Police, will conduct an exhaustive inventory of mechanisms for informing and consulting the public, and for empowering communities in the co-production of public safety. It will design a framework using those mechanisms best suited to the ACT, and integrate these with existing strategies of ....Policing for the 21st Century. This project will design and evaluate an innovative policing strategy for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The project team, including members of the Australian Federal Police, will conduct an exhaustive inventory of mechanisms for informing and consulting the public, and for empowering communities in the co-production of public safety. It will design a framework using those mechanisms best suited to the ACT, and integrate these with existing strategies of restorative justice and intelligence-driven policing. The project will evaluate the impact of the new policing strategies on citizen satisfaction with police performance, perceptions of public safety, and measures of crime.Read moreRead less
Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Furth ....Understanding and Managing the Occupational Health Impacts on Investigators of Internet Child Exploitation. Through developing best practice models for managing vicarious trauma in investigators of Internet child exploitation, the project will result in enhanced job satisfaction and less burnout of workers, and reduced health costs for policing organisations. Thus the project addresses a serious occupational health issue and contributes to the goal of promoting and maintaining good health. Further, by better managing the occupational health of investigators, the project will enhance the capacity of police organisations to deliver on their mission of investigating and preventing Internet child exploitation. This in turn contributes to the reduced consumption of Internet child exploitation and the associated traumatisation of abused victims. Read moreRead less