Annual report 2002-2003

ISSN 0311-449X
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2003

Agency Overview

As Australia's national centre for the analysis and dissemination of criminological data and information, the AIC makes a valued research contribution to assist in the prevention and control of crime. The AIC:

responds to the needs of government and the community with respect to policy issues in the fields of justice and the prevention and control of crime
is recognised as the national leader in the research and analysis of criminological issues, and the source of authoritative information at a national level in this field
achieves an understanding of and commitment to corporate directions and priorities.

Enabling legislation, objectives and functions

The AIC was established under section 5 of the Criminology Research Act 1971 (the Act) as a body corporate.

The functions of the AIC, as stated in section 6 of the Act, are:

to conduct, or arrange for the conduct of, such criminological research as is approved by the Board [of Management] or is requested by the Attorney-General;
to communicate to the Commonwealth, the states, and the Northern Territory, the results of research conducted by the Institute;
to conduct, or arrange for the conduct of, such seminars and courses of training or instruction for persons engaged, or to be engaged, in criminological research or in work related to the prevention or correction of criminal behaviour as are approved by the Board or are requested by the Attorney-General;
to advise the [Criminology Research] Council in relation to needs for, and programs of, criminological research;
to provide secretarial and administrative services for the Council;
to give advice and assistance in relation to any research performed wholly or partly with moneys provided out of the Fund;
to give advice in relation to the compilation of statistics relating to crime;
to publish such material resulting from or connected with the performance of its functions as is approved by the Board;
1. to collect information and statistics (without detracting from, and in the context of, the overall collecting and coordinating role of the Australian Bureau of Statistics);
2. to provide information and advice to departments, agencies and authorities of the Commonwealth, of the states, and of the Northern Territory dealing with the administration of criminal justice;
3. to collaborate, in and outside Australia, with governments, institutions and authorities, and with bodies and persons, in relation to research, or the training of persons, in or in connection with the administration of criminal justice; and
to do anything incidental or conducive to the performance of any of the foregoing functions.

Board of Management

Section 9 of the Criminology Research Act 1971 provides that the board shall consist of the Director, three members appointed by the Attorney-General and four members appointed by the Criminology Research Council (CRC).

Director

Dr Adam Graycar, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra.

Appointed by the Attorney-General of Australia

Professor Richard Fox (Chair), Faculty of Law, Monash University, Victoria
Mr Ian Carnell, General Manager, Criminal Justice and Security, Attorney-General's Department
Mr Nigel Hadgkiss APM, Director, Interim Building Industry Taskforce, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Victoria

Appointed by the CRC

CRC members are appointed for one calendar year and take up their appointments at the first meeting of the calendar year.

CRC appointees as at 30 June 2003 were:

Mr Laurie Glanfield AM, Director-General, Attorney-General's Department, New South Wales (appointed 19/4/02)
Mr Alan Piper, Director-General, Department of Justice, Western Australia (appointed 19/4/02)
Mr Richard Coates, Chief Executive Officer, Department of Justice, Northern Territory (appointed 21/3/03)
Dr Ken Levy RFD, Director-General, Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland (appointed 21/3/03)

Terms completed:

Mr Peter Harmsworth, Secretary, Department of Justice, Victoria (29/3/01-7/3/03)
Ms Joy Wundersitz, Director, Office of Crime Statistics and Research, Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (29/3/01-4/3/03)
Ms Kate Lennon, Chief Executive, Attorney General's Department and Department of Justice, South Australia (4/3/02-1/3/03)

The board met on three occasions during the year:

5 July 2002, in Canberra
28 November 2002, in Hobart
21 March 2003, in Canberra

Former directors of the institute

The Hon. Mr Justice J.H. Muirhead QC, 1 February 1973-31 May 1975
Mr William Clifford, 5 June 1975-31 August 1983
Professor Richard Harding, 30 January 1984-28 January 1987
Professor Duncan Chappell, 20 July 1987-30 June 1994

Responsible minister

The minister responsible for the institute is the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator the Honourable Chris Ellison.

Organisational structure and address

The AIC operates from offices at 74 Leichhardt Street Griffith, in Canberra, ACT. The organisation's structure is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Structure of the Australian Institute of Criminology
Structure of the AIC

Corporate values

The AIC seeks to promote a cooperative and harmonious work environment through:

Integrity : Ethical, honest and loyal behaviour
Professionalism : Serving clients and stakeholders in a practical, diligent, thorough and objective fashion
Openness : Being accessible and responsive to staff, clients and stakeholders so as to build trust and confidence.
Fairness : Treating all equitably and justly
Respect : Respecting the diversity of ideas, backgrounds and cultures of staff, clients and stakeholders

Performance

The institute's performance throughout the reporting period confirms that its policy and operational directions are in tune with clients' expectations. In particular this is demonstrated by:

the extent to which the AIC's key stakeholders are satisfied with its research outputs and products, including the extent to which they access the institute's services and data strong support for and attendance at learning events conducted by the AIC's Learning & Knowledge Development initiative
the continued production and wide dissemination of high-quality research papers
an average of 20,000 visits per day to the institute's web site
the continued interest of outside organisations in contracting the AIC to conduct research on their behalf.

The corporate direction has been effectively communicated to institute staff through:

staff meetings to inform and update staff on corporate issues and directions
regular research meetings, held to plan, discuss and report on projects
staff involvement in agency agreement negotiations.

Appropriations, outcomes and outputs

The 2002-2003 Australian Government Budget provided an appropriation for the AIC of $3.939 million. The appropriation is supplemented by funds obtained from project and other work.

The AIC had one budget outcome: to inform government of activities which aim to promote justice and reduce crime. There are two outputs for the AIC's outcome:

The following chapters detail activities undertaken by the institute during the reporting period which contributed to its output objectives.