28th annual report of the Australian Institute of Criminology, 2000
ISSN 0311-449X
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2000
Research
Objective
The objective of the research group is to conduct research on the extent, nature and prevention of crime in Australia in order to provide timely, policy-relevant advice to the Commonwealth and other key clients.
Description
The research group has four programs, the leaders of which are as follows:
- Dr Peter Grabosky: Sophisticated Crime Program
- Dr Adam Graycar: Public Policy Program
- Dr Peter Grabosky: Violence and Property Crime Program
- Mr Carlos Carcach: Crime Analysis and Modelling Program
In addition to core research (see Appendix I), the research group is responsible for publications, conferences, occasional seminars and roundtable meetings. The research group also provides administrative services for the Australian Violence Prevention Awards, and administrative and advisory services for the research-funding activities of the CRC. Where appropriate, the CRC has agreed to coordinate its research priorities with those of the AIC.
The AIC makes regular contributions to the management development course at the Australian Institute of Police Management. These have included lectures and assistance in curriculum development.
Another important aspect of the work of the research staff is the supervision of tertiary students as interns. In the financial year under review, five such interns spent varying lengths of time working with AIC staff.
The research group has strengthened its collaborative efforts with other Commonwealth agencies, and during the year has worked with agencies including Health, Aged Care, Family Services, Office of the Status of Women, Customs, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Federal Police and Defence. Good working relations also exist with State and Territory Government agencies across Australia.
Strategic Priorities
The strategic priorities of the research group are:
- to provide information on, and analysis of, the causes, prevention and control of crime, and on the criminal justice system;
- to develop innovative products and services in the field of criminological research and information to better meet the needs of key clients and stakeholders, including the provision of consultancy services; and
- to anticipate the needs of major stakeholders by conducting proactive research into emerging areas of crime. This includes maintaining the ability to respond quickly to the needs of government.
Research programs
Sophisticated Crime Program
Objective: To provide information on and analysis of the causes, prevention and control of fraud, white-collar crime, organised crime, computer- and telecommunications-related crime and other complex criminal activity, including emerging criminal threats, and transnational criminal activity.
The following broad topics fall within this program:
- Computer-related crime
- Fraud, corruption and economic crime
- Transnational crime
- Environmental crime
- Trafficking in people
Computer-Related Crime
Research into fraud relating to the use of electronic-payment systems and the Internet is ongoing. Numerous papers (see Appendix III) were presented to conferences on cybercrime and electronic fraud, a book manuscript on electronic theft was submitted for publication, as was a journal article on Internet payment systems. The new opportunities for committing fraud that are arising in the twenty-first century were discussed in several conference papers, including one on new approaches necessary in crime control and policing (see Appendix III). This contributed directly to the development of the Australasian Police Commissioners' Conference Draft Strategy on Electronic Crime.
Fraud, Corruption and Economic Crime
Papers were produced on the fraud and financial abuse of older persons (Trends and Issues, no. 132), organisations as victims of fraud (Trends and Issues, no. 127), corruption within the Australian public sector (Trends and Issues, no. 143), and the use of false identities in economic crime (Trends and Issues, no. 129). Studies undertaken on crime in the professions resulted in a book chapter and two conference papers (see Appendices II and III).
Customs Fraud
The AIC was engaged by the Australian Customs Service to provide policy guidance on a number of issues.
Environmental Crime
As a result of work undertaken for National Crime Prevention, a roundtable meeting was held on environmental crime and a monograph on this topic published in the Research and Public Policy Series (no. 27).
Trafficking in People
The AIC is participating in the Global Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings, launched by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) in March 1999. The AIC seconded a research analyst to this program, which considers both smuggling and trafficking in human beings, for a period of twelve months. The AIC research component is focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, with a particular focus on the Philippines. The AIC provided research expertise for the first project of the program, known as Coalitions Against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines. It is expected that this project will serve as the model for future United Nations projects on human smuggling and trafficking.
To date, the AIC has:
- completed a desk review of existing literature on smuggling/trafficking from the Philippines, and in the Asian region;
- participated in the United Nations Start-up Mission to the Philippines, and made recommendations upon return; and
- completed a report, "Rapid Assessment: Smuggling and Trafficking from the Philippines", which has been made available to the Government of the Philippines.
- develop a database containing information on trafficking in human beings, including trafficking in children, gained from non-government organisations;
- conduct a survey of non-government organisations, with respect to the involvement of organised crime groups in human trafficking and smuggling, including the smuggling and trafficking of children; and
- produce a cross-analysis report on interregional trafficking routes emanating from the Philippines (for example, to Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia); trafficking patterns; and national/ international institutional responses to this phenomenon.
It is anticipated that the AIC will conduct an analysis of existing Australian legislative responses to human smuggling and trafficking, such as the Child Sex Tourism Offences contained in the Crimes Act (Cwlth), as examples of best practice.
The AIC actively participates in various fora that promote awareness of the issues relating to human smuggling and trafficking, including the smuggling and trafficking of children. This includes hosting various meetings and inter-departmental roundtables on the subject, along with presenting conference papers and seminars (see Appendix III)
.The AIC is actively involved with the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). The Director made a presentation on human smuggling and trafficking at this year's meeting of CSCAP in Wollongong, Australia. The AIC has also been invited by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to present on this subject as part of the training program for migration compliance officers.
A presentation on Australia's experience of human smuggling was given to the Australian Federal Police's Management of Serious Crime training program for senior police and law enforcement managers.
10th United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders
AIC staff were involved in various tasks, ranging from preparing Australia's materials for presentation, participating in workshops and tabling the report on human trafficking, to preparing an exhibit advertising the AIC's work and its products for this congress which was held in Vienna, Austria, in April 2000. In addition, the AIC's Director of Research delivered a keynote address (see Appendix III).
Intellectual Property and Copyright
A background report was prepared for the Intellectual Property and Competition Review Committee (IPCRC), Attorney-General's Department, on CD piracy. It was based on an analysis of published records and in-depth interviews with officers of the Australian Federal Police, Customs, and the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. It assessed whether there has been an increased availability of pirated material since the lifting of parallel import restrictions on CDs.
Public Policy Program
Objectives: To provide information on, and analysis of, the operations of the criminal justice system and its impacts on diverse population groups; and information on, and analysis of, criminal justice responses to drugs in society.
The following broad topics fall within this program:
- Drugs monitoring
- Drug-Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA)
- Drugs and property crime
- Drugs evaluation
- Illicit Drugs Reporting System
- Drug-Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO)
- Evaluation of Operation Mantle
- Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) prisons project
- Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment in prisons
- Corrections
- Deaths in custody
- Crime and vulnerable populations
- Victims studies (general)
Drugs Monitoring In particular, the program's work focuses on the extent, nature and causes of drug-related crime in local areas; analysis of local drug markets; primary and secondary analysis of survey data on drug use; analysis and interpretation of drug-related crime and criminal justice statistics; and the dissemination of drug-related statistical information to external clients. The following broad topics fall under drugs monitoring:
- Data analysis
- Criminal histories of property offenders
- Drug markets
- Drug-use patterns and criminal activity among different population groups
- Analysis of court statistics
DUMA
This is a three-year project which began in January 1999. The project involves voluntary face-to-face interviews and the collection of urine specimens every three months from four sites in three police jurisdictions-New South Wales (NSW), Queensland and Western Australia-to ascertain objective drug-use patterns of the arrestees. The study is examining issues such as the relationship between drugs and property and violent crime; monitoring patterns of drug use across time; and helping to assess the need for drug treatment among the offender population. In 1999, interviews were conducted with 1402 people. Between January 2000 and June 2000, 1139 interviews were conducted.
Three monographs have been produced: no. 21 in the Research and Public Policy Series gives an overview of the DUMA project; no. 25 outlines the processes involved in one specific drug detection methodology-urine testing or urinalysis; and no. 26 is an annual report providing an overview of 1999 findings and site-by-site tables on illicit drug use among detainees. A workshop was held in collaboration with Queensland Police, and a roundtable meeting was held in Perth. A paper giving preliminary results from the site in Queensland has been published (Trends and Issues, no. 142). Over the past year, numerous presentations have been given (see Appendix III) and chapters and articles have been published based on this work (see Appendix II). A chapter has been published in the annual Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence Australian Illicit Drug Report 1998-99 (see Appendix II).
Drugs and Property Crime: This has involved a range of data collection exercises, including surveys of correctional officers, legal-aid solicitors, property offenders, and injecting drug users and court data from Queensland and NSW. Codebooks have been produced for all the data. Court data from Queensland, NSW and Victoria are being cleaned and prepared for analysis purposes. A survey of media portrayal of drugs and crime has been completed and a paper has been published on this topic in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 158). Law enforcement strategies and illicit drug control were addressed in no. 110 of the Trends and Issues Series. A monograph on drugs and property offending is currently being written.
Drugs Evaluation
The objective is to evaluate illicit-drug-related criminal justice and law enforcement programs and their association with drug-use trends and patterns of drug-related behaviour.
Illicit Drugs Reporting System: This is an annual project in collaboration with the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre which gathers information from illicit drug users and key informants in the illicit drug field, and involves the collection and analysis of administrative data. A roundtable meeting was held at which a report comparing Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and national trends of illicit drug use was released.
Drug-Use Careers of Offenders: This four-year project aims to examine the intersection of drug use and criminal careers among the prison population. It will be the first occasion that a national survey of sufficient sample size has been conducted that will enable the extent of drug-related crime to be reliably estimated. Project officers are presently negotiating with jurisdictions on the conduct of the survey.
Evaluation of Operation Mantle: This project was conducted in South Australia and is the first-ever evaluation of a street-level drug enforcement initiative in this country. The project assessed whether policing had an impact on the local drug market; the impact on drug-related harms; and the long-term impact on the local drug market. A report has been submitted to South Australia Police.
ANCD Prisons Project: This commission from the ANCD aims to determine the extent of problematic alcohol- and other drug-related offenders in prisons; the extent and nature of AOD treatment services provided within prisons; and expenditure by jurisdictions on AOD services.
Other Activities: Briefings were provided to the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence on the Illicit Drugs Reporting System and to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on heroin overdoses. Presentations were also given on the ACT Safe Injecting Room Trial, on National Illicit Drug Strategy Diversions Evaluation Frameworks, and to students on the legal situation of drugs and crime in the ACT.
The two drug teams combined to conduct a roundtable discussion on alcohol, young persons and violence. In conjunction with this roundtable, briefings were presented and two issues in the Trends and Issues Series (nos 140 and 149) were released. The teams also combined to present a background briefing to Federal Parliament.
Corrections
Correctional matters were the subject of two roundtable meetings: one focusing on management of correctional populations, and one on the use of discretion by prison officers. A section dedicated to corrections has been added to the AIC web site. This allows the gathering, use and dissemination of material relating to correctional issues to interested parties, such as correctional managers, staff, inmates, students and the media. The demographic characteristics of the prison population was the subject of a paper published in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 150).
A conference was held focusing on Indigenous people in correctional facilities. Related to this, a number of papers looking at best-practice interventions in corrections for Indigenous people was published in the Trends and Issues Series (nos 130 and 137).
A submission was made on the increase in the size of the prison population in NSW. Epilepsy in custody was the subject of a conference paper.
Deaths in Custody
The AIC holds continuous data of deaths in custody for twenty years, from 1980 to 2000, and a report has been prepared reviewing the deaths. A roundtable meeting was held on suicide and self-harm in prisons. A journal article on deaths in custody in Australia has been published (see Appendix II), as have papers on this topic in the Trends and Issues Series (nos 126, 131 and 153).
Crime and Vulnerable Populations Topics covered include violence against elderly people and child abuse. Several papers relating to these topics have been published in the Trends and Issues Series and presented at conferences (see Appendices I and III). Significant research on crime against the elderly has been undertaken with the support of National Crime Prevention. A catalogue of protocols for dealing with crime against the elderly has been prepared and issued throughout Australia. Discussion papers were presented to the Minister for Aged Care as part of a national strategy for ageing Australia.
Violence and Property Crime Program
Objective: To provide information on, and analysis of, the causes, prevention and control of crimes against persons and property.
The following broad topics fall within this program:
- Homicide monitoring
- Firearms/dangerous-weapons monitoring
- Crimes against business
- Gangs
- Crime prevention
Homicide Monitoring
The data set of the National Homicide Monitoring Program now includes 3150 homicide incidents occurring since 1 July 1989. The data collection now covers seventy-seven variables (compared with forty-seven prior to 1996) and is organised around incidents, victims and offenders. There is considerable national and international interest in this unique data set. Monographs drawing on this data set and published in the Research and Public Policy Series include a ten-year study on homicide (no. 28) and a study on the killing of women in Australia (no. 18), of which the latter was also the subject of a paper published the Trends and Issues Series (no. 124). Other papers based on this data set and published in the Trends and Issues Series address the link between mental disorder and homicide, and gay-hate and homicide (nos 133 and 155 respectively).
Firearms/Dangerous-Weapons Monitoring
This program commenced early in 1997. Annual reports are presented to the Australian Police Ministers' Council. A paper drawn from this study has been published in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 151).
Crimes Against Business
With funding from the National Crime Prevention (NCP) branch of the Attorney-General's Department, and with the assistance of the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA), the AIC is conducting a survey of crime experiences and crime prevention expectations of small business. A victimisation questionnaire was piloted among 100 retailers throughout Australia, and following an nation-wide mail out, data from approximately 4500 responses are being entered and processed. This is the largest data collection of its type in Australia. It is anticipated that the information generated by the research will form the basis of an ongoing database on crimes against small business, to be housed at the AIC. Related to this topic, a paper on shop theft was published in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 152). The AIC will soon be establishing the Crime Prevention Extension Service for Small Business.
Gangs
Research is currently under way on the involvement of gangs in criminal activity. A roundtable seminar was held at which time a paper discussing this issue was circulated.
Crime Prevention
An overview of best-practice initiatives in crime prevention was completed.
Violence in the Workplace
Following a roundtable discussion and the preparation of a report earlier in the year, a monograph was published on this topic in the Research and Public Policy Series (no. 22). A series of three practical handbooks on the prevention of workplace violence is in preparation.
National Crime Prevention Projects
The AIC undertook a number of research tasks at the invitation of NCP (within the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department). Reports and briefings on the following topics have been completed:
- Young people and gangs
- Alcohol consumption, young people and crime
- Preventing crime against the elderly
- Preventing environmental crime
These topics were discussed at roundtable meetings (see Appendix III), and the results of many of these briefings have been published as monographs in the Research and Public Policy Series and/or as papers in the Trends and Issues Series (see Appendix I).
Roadmap of Early Intervention Programs
At the request of the Office of the Minister for Justice and Customs, the AIC prepared a "roadmap" of early intervention programs. This report provided a generic overview of programs in each jurisdiction, identifying portfolio auspices. Where possible, it included information on costs, the number of clients served, the number of eligible clients and whether the program had been evaluated.
Crime Prevention Extension Service for Small Business
The Minister for Justice and Customs has approved a proposal for establishing a crime prevention extension service for small business. The service will provide specialised crime-prevention research, analysis and advisory services. Professor Marcus Felson, of Rutgers University, spent two weeks at the AIC in March 2000 providing advice on the development and structure of the service.
Victims Studies (General)
This is an area of ongoing interest at the AIC, including the aspect of offenders as victims and the effectiveness of early intervention. A conference was held addressing restoration for victims of crime. A stocktake of legislation and policy on victim support and compensation in Australia was published in the Research and Public Policy Series (no. 19). A submission on victims of crime was made to the ACT Parliament.
Violence Prevention Summit
At the request of the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator, the Hon. Amanda Vanstone, the AIC hosted a violence prevention summit in December 1999. The AIC prepared for the summit by holding a roundtable meeting of academics and practitioners working in the field. Twenty-two young men together with ten youth workers from around Australia attended. The young men were victims or perpetrators of violence, or were both. A report was produced which identified a number of policy opportunities, including improvement in police-community relations and school-based intervention programs, in addition to those based on enhanced employment, education and training. A paper based on this report was published in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 154).
Sport and Physical Activity as a Means of Crime Prevention
The AIC is working in consultation with the Australian Sports Commission on this project. Two roundtable meetings were held to conceptualise the project and discuss the issues. A paper is being prepared for publication in the Trends and Issues Series.
Crime Analysis and Modelling Program
Objective: To inform public policy for crime prevention and control by the analysis and modelling of crime data. In particular, it seeks to demonstrate the extent, nature, concentration and causes of crime in local areas; provide analysis and modelling of local drug markets; predict and forecast outcomes of the criminal justice system; undertake analysis and modelling of survey data; provide analysis and interpretation of crime and criminal justice statistics; disseminate statistical information to external clients; and provide statistical advice and data-management support to other AIC research programs.
The following broad topics fall within this program:
- Crime mapping
- Data analysis and modelling survey data
- Drug market modelling
- Justice system modelling
Crime Mapping
The AIC is preparing the Atlas of Crime in Australia, which contains a set of crime maps and related risk factors for "statistical local areas" in the five mainland states. It includes the offences of armed robbery, unarmed robbery, residential break and enter, non-residential break and enter, and motor vehicle theft. The atlas will be launched at the Crime Mapping Conference, to be held in Adelaide in September 2000. This conference is being organised in conjunction with the Key Centre for Social Applications of Geographical Information System, University of Adelaide.
Data Analysis and Modelling Survey Data
A report was prepared for the City of Sydney on crime concentration indexes for the years 1996 and 1998, for offences including assault, property offences and other crime. It included a set of thematic maps showing crime concentration indexes for Sydney and other local government areas in the inner-Sydney statistical subdivision.
A collaborative project with Dr David Farrington, Cambridge University, on cross-national comparisons of crime is under way.
Papers were prepared on the impact of the Port Arthur massacre and the new firearm legislation on violence; temporal clustering of child killings; and the link between female offending and criminality.
Research is currently under way on regional and rural crime. This research aims to study the following issues: the link between regional development and crime; social capital and regional crime; rural and urban crime; economic change and rural crime; and the geographical profile of rural crime in Australia.
A series of papers on different topics related to prison populations have been published in the Trends and Issues Series (nos 130,137 and 150) and three others are in the process of being published.
Research continues on the properties of location quotients of crime or crime concentration indexes. A paper on this topic was presented at the 1999 ANZSOC conference in Perth in October 1999, and at the Australian Local Government National Convention in November 1999 (see Appendix III).
Research on the women's fear of violence in the community using data from the 1996 Women's Safety Survey was completed and a report published as part of the Trends and Issues Series (no. 135).
Drug Market Modelling
Research is under way on the development and establishment of illegal drug markets. A paper on the analysis of illegal drug markets was presented at the Third International Conference on Crime Mapping, Orlando, USA.
Justice System Modelling
A paper in the Trends and Issues Series (no. 147) and a book chapter on the cost-benefit and economic analysis of crime prevention have been published.
International Crime Victim Survey
The AIC is involved in the conduct of the 2000 International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS). This is part of an international project coordinated at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. The survey collects data on personal and household experiences of victimisation, attitudes towards the criminal justice system and perceptions of personal safety. The ICVS is designed to facilitate international comparisons; it has a sample size of 2000 households/persons throughout Australia.
An extra sample of 1000 people aged sixty-five years and over was included as part of the survey. This group, combined with the elderly sample from the ICVS, will provide for the first time, and on a national basis, reliable data on victimisation among the elderly.
The survey is in the final stages of data processing and validation.
Crime and Justice in the United States, England and Wales and Australia
This project is part of the AIC's contribution to a major volume being prepared in the United Kingdom on the comparative analysis of crime and justice systems. The project is currently at the stage of deciding which data should be included and the methodological approach to the comparative analysis.
Australian Violence Prevention Awards
The Australian Violence Prevention Awards are now in their seventh year. Applications closed for the 2000 Awards in late May. There were eighty-seven entries which will be judged in September, with the winners being announced by the Minister for Justice and Customs in November 2000 at Parliament House, Canberra.
Australian Institute of Criminology Ethics Committee
The purpose of the AIC Ethics Committee is to advise the Director as to whether approval should be given for a project to proceed under the AIC auspices. The Committee reviews research projects involving human subjects to ensure that appropriate safeguards exist to ensure conduct of the research is consistent with the highest ethical standards. The Committee has four members, who have backgrounds in law, religion, social work and research, as required by the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines for ethics committees. Meetings are arranged as required.
Conferences
The AIC presented seven national conferences during the year:
- Restoration for Victims of Crime: Contemporary Challenges, in association with Victims Referral and Assistance Service, 9-10 September 1999, Melbourne.
- Best Practice Interventions in Corrections for Indigenous People, in conjunction with Department for Correctional Services, South Australia, 13-15 October 1999, Adelaide.
- Art Crime: Protecting Art, Protecting Artists, and Protecting Consumers, 2-3 December 1999, Sydney.
- History of Crime, Policing and Punishment, 9-10 December 1999, Canberra.
- Crime in the Professions, 21-22 February 2000, Melbourne.
- Transnational Crime, in association with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service, 9-10 March 2000, Canberra.
- 3rd National Gambling Regulation Conference, in association with the Australian Institute for Gambling Research, 11-12 May 2000, Sydney.
Occasional Seminars
- Drug Use and Criminal Behaviour Among Alleged Criminals in Perth, Dr Wendy Loxley, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse, 7 July 1999.
- An Introduction to the Facts and Fictions of Psychological Profiling and an Empirical Assessment of Psychological Profiling Accuracy in Assisting Violent Crime Investigations, Richard N. Kocsis, Criminal Profiling Research Unit, NSW Police Service, 22 July 1999.
- Organised Crime and the Business of Migrant Trafficking: An Economic Analysis, Andreas Schloenhardt, School of Law, University of Adelaide, 10 November 1999.
- Trebling Prisoner Numbers: Lessons for the Future, Mark Lynch, Principal Research Officer, Queensland Criminal Justice Commission, 25 February 2000.
- Recent Developments in Crime Policy in Germany, with Particular Regard to General Tendencies in the European Union, Professor Dr Hans-Jürgen Kerner, Director, Institute of Criminology, University of Tüebingen, Germany, 17 March 2000.
- Place Management in Moree, Jim Boyce, Moree Place Manager, 5 June 2000.
Roundtable Discussions
As part of its exploration of contemporary issues of significance to public policy, the AIC holds roundtable discussions with key people able to develop the knowledge base relating to these issues. Roundtable discussions held during 1999-2000 focused on the following topics of current importance:
- Prevention of Self-Harm and Suicide in Prisons, 27 August 1999, Adelaide.
- Trafficking in Humans, 3 September 1999, Canberra.
- Public Health Perspectives on Interpersonal Violence, 7 September 1999, Canberra.
- Correctional Populations: Issues for Management, 7 October 1999, Melbourne.
- Prison Officers and the Use of Discretion, 8 October 1999, Melbourne.
- DUMA Workshop, 29 October 1999, Canberra.
- Young Men and Violence Prevention, 16 November 1999, Canberra.
- Preventing Environmental Harm, 7 December 1999, Canberra.
- The Illicit Drug Reporting System: 1999 ACT Results, 9 December 1999, Canberra.
- Interpersonal Violence, _10 December 1999, Adelaide.
- Alcohol, Young People and Violence, 13 December 1999, Canberra.
- Sport, Young People and Social Issues I, 5 May 2000, Canberra.
- Preventing Crime Against Older People, 15 June 2000, Canberra.
- Sport, Young People and Social Issues II, 16 June 2000, Canberra.
- Understanding and Controlling Violence, 22 June 2000, Canberra.
- Burglary and Theft, 27 June 2000, Canberra.
- Young People and Crime, 28 June 2000, Canberra.
- Urban Design and Crime Prevention, 29 June 2000, Canberra.