Australian Institue of Criminology

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Welcome to the Australian Institute of Criminology

The Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. We seek to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.

Latest publications

Youth (in)justice: crime and oral language competence How much crime is drug or alcohol related? Self-reported attributions of police detainees

A paper by the Australian Institute of Criminology which provides new estimates of the extent to which criminal behaviour is linked to drug and alcohol use has been released.

The study used new data collected by the AIC’s Drug Use Monitoring Australia (DUMA) program and examined responses from 1,884 police detainees who were surveyed in nine separate watch-houses across Australia.

The study is the first of its kind to examine the self-reported link between substance use and crime for 10 different substances, including alcohol. It is also the first of its kind to differentiate between those crimes attributed to economic factors, such as the need to fund drug addictions, and those attributed to the psychotropic effects of substance use.

Youth (in)justice: crime and oral language competence Drug use among police detainees: A comparative analysis of DUMA and the US Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program

Analysis in this report compares results of DUMA against those of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program which operates across 10 cities in the United States.

This revealed that:

  • The rate of cannabis use amongst people who have been arrested was similar in the United States (46 per cent)  and Australia (44 per cent);
  • There is a higher rate overall of opiate use amongst people arrested in Australian than the United States – 11 per cent compared with 8 per cent;
  • Cocaine use is much higher in the United States than in Australia – all test sites in the United States were higher for cocaine use than Australian test sites. Rates of cocaine use in the United States were 25 per cent compared to 2 per cent in Australia; and
  • On average, Australian people who were arrested were more likely to have used methamphetamine than those in the United States – 11 per cent compared to 6 per cent.

Events

Conferences

Crime prevention and communities: Social and environmental strategies for safer neighbourhoods
4-5 June 2012, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre

The Australian Institute of Criminology is holding an international conference on Crime Prevention and Communities. Australian and International speakers will discuss social and environmental projects and programs; urban and community planning and safety; crime prevention and safety in indigenous communities; and the design development, implementation and evaluation of crime prevention programs.

Truth, testimony and relevance: improving the quality of evidence in sexual offence cases 
15-16 May 2012, Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Australian Institute of Criminology, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and Victoria Police are holding a national symposium to increase understanding of the nature of sexual offending, and around the vexed question of the use of evidence provided by sexual assault and abuse victims for court.

2012 Australian Crime & Violence Prevention Awards

Nominations for the 2012 awards are now open  

The annual Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards are sponsored by the heads of Australian governments and members of the Standing Council on Police and Emergency Management as a joint Australian Government, state and territory initiative. They include monetary awards totalling up to $130,000 and are presented to a number of categories, including national winners and meritorious police projects.

The awards reward good practice in the prevention or reduction of violence and other types of crimes in Australia, to encourage public initiatives and to assist governments in identifying and developing practical projects that will reduce violence and other types of crime in the community. Projects may address specific groups such as rural and remote communities, women, children, youth or the family, or specific problems such as alcohol-related violence. An award may also be available for initiatives of great merit or for outstanding projects that have recently ceased operation.

These awards are primarily designed to recognise community led crime prevention activities.

Government funded crime prevention projects including police initiatives are not eligible to receive financial awards but may receive recognition for their innovation and contribution to reducing crime and violence in the community.

The National Crime Prevention Framework

This framework has been prepared for the Australian and New Zealand Crime Prevention Senior Officers’ Group   by the Australian Institute of Criminology and endorsed by the Standing Council for Police and Emergency Management on 11 November 2011.

The National Crime Prevention Framework

The framework is designed to:

  • support a coordinated approach to addressing crime and safety issues of national importance, including new and emerging crime problems;
  • promote an improved level of collaboration between crime prevention agencies operating in each jurisdiction;
  • improve the effectiveness of crime prevention across Australia by promoting principles of good practice and successful strategies;
  • encourage increased commitment to crime prevention at all levels of government and across different sectors; and
  • assist in guiding the allocation of crime prevention resources to achieve the greatest impact.