There are programs in Australia and other countries aimed at reducing the fire-setting activities of young arsonists (Muller & Stebbins 2007). Evaluating the effectiveness of these programs is quite rare. However, research in the United States has evaluated fire-setting interventions up to a year after the intervention occurred (Kolko 2001).
Fires that are lit on high fire danger days are larger, more intense and more difficult to control than on other days. Although there is little conclusive evidence that arsonists specifically target high fire danger days (see Bushfire arson bulletin no. 39), deliberate bushfires which are lit on these days are potentially more dangerous and, as they require more effort and resources to suppress, they impact on the ability of fire services to fight other fires.
Foreword | Consumer fraud costs Australians almost $1b a year and most of this fraud involves scams in which individuals are persuaded to part with an upfront, or advance, fee, with the promise of large financial or other gain in the future.
Foreword | Children are vulnerable to many forms of abuse and exploitation and have long been victims of trafficking for the purpose of both sexual and labour exploitation. There has been some analysis of trafficking of children in Asia, where trafficking persists despite significant prevention efforts, however, comparatively little is known about trafficking in the Pacific.
Throughout history, consumers have been targeted by deceptive and misleading practices that have ranged in subtlety and complexity from the barely plausible to the refined and sophisticated. Grabosky, Smith & Dempsey (2001: 105-129) proposed a simple classification of the extensive range of illegal practices perpetrated against consumers, in the traditional marketplace and the electronic environment of the 21st century (Table 1).
Foreword | In order to transfer money, people in Western societies have, for many years, relied on conventional banks and other financial institutions. In addition to ordinary banking, however, money and other forms of value can be transferred through the use of so-called remittance services which have operated for hundreds of years in non-Western societies.
Foreword | The family is viewed by most people as providing a nurturing and loving environment. But for some, the family environment can be deadly. In Australia, almost two in five homicides occur between family members, with an average of 129 family homicides each year. The majority of family homicides occur between intimate partners (60 per cent), and three-quarters of intimate partner homicides involve males killing their female partners.
Foreword | As part of the Australian Government’s response to trafficking in persons, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) has undertaken preliminary research to assess the risks and protective factors for labour trafficking and to identify matters for priority research.
Foreword | As police are often the first point of contact in domestic and family violence incidents they are in a unique position to respond to, intervene in, and be proactive about, preventing family violence. With indications that the volume of recorded violence has increased and the complexity of family violence matters has increased police workloads, police face many challenges in responding in an effective and timely manner to reported incidents.
Foreword | Victim/survivors of human trafficking involving partner migration employ diverse help-seeking strategies, both formal and informal, to exit their exploitative situations.
More than 40 per cent of all Australian cybercrime victims fall prey to multiple types of cybercrime in a single year, with fraud and scam victims emerging as the most vulnerable. And it’s prompted a critical reminder for Australians to bolster their online safeguards.