South East Queensland Drug Court evaluation

• AIC research project
• Start date: January 2001 (complete)

Description

The Queensland Drug Court commenced operation on June 26 2000, after the introduction of the Drug Rehabilitation (Court Diversion) Act 2000. The evaluation, commissioned by the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General, will concentrate on the first three objectives as listed under this Act: to reduce the level of drug dependency in the community; to reduce the level of criminal activity associated with drug dependency; and to reduce the health risks to the community associated with drug dependency.

To assess these objectives, the evaluator will focus on quantitative analysis of de-identified administrative data, as well as a smaller qualitative component involving interviews with the drug court team, including the magistrate, key stakeholders (i.e. treatment providers), drug court participants and participant observation of court processes.

Publications

• The Queensland Drug Court: a recidivism study of the first 100 graduates
  Jason Payne, 2008
• Drug courts : current issues and future prospects
  Toni Makkai and Jason Payne, 2004
• Final report on the South East Queensland Drug Court
  Toni Makkai and Keenan Veraar, 2003

Related links

• Related project: North Queensland Drug Court evaluation
• Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland
• Topic: Drug courts