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Foreword | At 30 June 2006, 23 percent of Australian police were women, almost double the percentage in 1996. Despite this change, the issues relevant a decade earlier remain today, namely difficulties in recruitment and deployment and the low representation of women within senior ranks. This paper examines the career paths of one cohort of police sworn in during 1991 in a number of jurisdictions, to examine what differences, if any, exist between the male and female personnel in terms of recruitment, rank attainment, departures and deployment.

Foreword | Most prisoners are highly likely to re-offend once released into the community and as a consequence, have a high rate of return to prison. This is a costly cycle: in 2004-05 $1.7 billion was spent on 120 custodial facilities housing a daily average of 24,092 offenders. Given increasing imprisonment rates these costs will continue to escalate unless we actively seek to prevent re-offending among prisoners post-release.

Foreword | The true extent of people trafficking is difficult to gauge, in part because of low levels of reporting and identification of trafficked persons, the clandestine nature of the crime, and a lack of reliable data and systematic data collections, The data collected by the International Organization for Migration in its Counter Trafficking Module Database is unique in the breadth and depth of information collected regarding the experiences of trafficked persons.

Foreword | Correctional rehabilitation programs are routinely offered to moderate to high-risk offenders in all Australian jurisdictions. The similarities in service provision between states and territories is great; most, if not all, offer programs that are dedicated towards reducing risk in sexual and violent offenders, as well as addressing more general causes of offending. This paper describes some of the changes that have occurred to service provision since the last national review of offenders programs was conducted in 2004.

Foreword | Mobile and wireless technologies have evolved beyond recognition since the first radio signals were transmitted in the late nineteenth century. The advent of mobile phones and similar devices has transformed business and social interactions, and Internet access no longer depends on a wired system such as a modem connected to a telephone landline - rather, it can be achieved using a mobile enabled device whenever and wherever a mobile access point is available.

Foreword | The exercise of prosecutorial discretion is one of the most important but least understood aspects in the administration of criminal justice. The considerable discretionary powers vested in prosecutors employed by the state and territory Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are exercised in accordance with prosecution policies and guidelines, but the decision-making process is rarely subject to external scrutiny.

Foreword | Although the number of identified cases of trafficking into Australia is relatively low, the hidden nature of this crime and reluctance of trafficked persons to report to authorities suggests that a number of cases may go unidentified and the problem may be more extensive than available data indicates. Much can be learned about the risks of exploitation, including trafficking, from an overview of undocumented movement throughout the region.

Foreword | Over the last few decades, understandings of the nature and causes of domestic violence have increased in sophistication. This has been influenced by, and led to, an influx of domestic violence typologies that have attempted to identify differences between groups of offenders and victims based on factors ranging from physiological reactions to specific stimuli through to historical experiences of violence and abuse.

Foreword | Prosecution agencies are often criticised for their performance in prosecuting sexual assault. A lack of external transparency means there is little knowledge about the specific criteria used in decisions to proceed with or discontinue prosecutions. Understanding the factors that impact on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion therefore constitutes an important step towards improving criminal justice outcomes in sexual assault prosecutions.

Link to full report (RPP 90): Reintegration of Indigenous prisoners

Key findings

• The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) interviewed 161 offenders detained for disorderly conduct offences on Friday and Saturday nights as part of the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program. Analysis of new questions about alcohol use provides valuable information to support a range of alcohol harm reduction strategies, including Operation Unite.

Key findings

• Recent data from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program shows an increase in the use of methamphetamine among police detainees.
• Voluntary urinalysis undertaken by detainees shows that in the first three-quarters of 2011, 21 percent of police detainees tested positive to methamphetamine—up from 16 percent in 2010 and 13 percent in 2009.

Abstract