Acknowledgements
This Australian Institute of Criminology would like to acknowledge ACT Policing and their partnership in undertaking this project. Without the assistance of ACT Policing, this project would not have been possible.
The Australian Institute of Criminology would also like to acknowledge those licensees who participated throughout various stages of the project. Their participation demonstrates that the industry is also committed to addressing alcohol-related problems in the Australian Capital Territory.
Foreword | Many criminal justice practitioners have observed that offenders experience poor mental health. While international studies have found mental health to be poorer among prisoners than in the general population, less information is available either about offenders who are not imprisoned or alleged offenders detained by police. The mental health of offenders is of key policy interest from both health service and crime prevention perspectives.
Foreword | Research in the past decade has found that certain ways of responding to domestic partner abusers, particularly psycho-educational approaches, can be effective in modifying abusive behaviours. The study described in this paper sought to classify male domestic partner abusers by certain identified characteristics and determine whether they responded differently to a Men's Behaviour Change Program conducted by community agencies in regional Victoria.
Foreword | The manner in which terrorist organisations finance their activities became a policy focal point after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Non-profit organisations, and charities in particular, were identified as potentially significant contributors to terrorism financing. This premise was based on known links between charitable giving and prominent terrorist groups, and the vulnerabilities of the non-profit sector to misuse.
At the international level, there is no single, clear definition of 'labour trafficking'. Arguably, the expression can be used to describe those forms of trafficking in persons of which the exploitative purpose relates to a person's labour. There are, however, debates over the scope and meaning of these terms. This brief provides an introduction to key terms and notes some of the issues that remain less settled.
Foreword | Children's 'witnessing' or exposure to domestic violence has been increasingly recognised as a form of child abuse, both in Australia and internationally. Although it is difficult to accurately assess the scope of the problem, research has demonstrated that a substantial amount of domestic violence is witnessed by children. As this paper outlines, witnessing domestic violence can involve a range of incidents, ranging from the child 'only' hearing the violence, to the child being forced to participate in the violence or being used as part of a violent incident.
Foreword | Sometimes criminal justice authorities may wish to control or to monitor the location of an individual without resorting to imprisonment. For example, before a criminal trial, police may want to ensure that the defendant stays in town or stays away from the complainant. After conviction, a judge may wish to place limits on an offender's freedom while not employing a full-time custodial sanction. Upon release from prison, a parole board may want to impose restrictions on an offender.
Foreword | Knowledge about sexual violence against women from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is scant. Anecdotally, levels of sexual violence are purported to be high, but national victimisation surveys may not capture, or may misrepresent, the extent of sexual violence in these communities.