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Changes in illicit drug availability have been shown to impact users’ alcohol and other drug consumption. In late 2000 and early 2001, Australia experienced a sudden and dramatic reduction in the supply of heroin which has continued to the present date. This shortage has been attributed to, at least in part, supply-side reduction strategies undertaken by law enforcement (Weatherburn et al. 2003).

Foreword | During 2005, there were 5.5 million visitor arrivals to Australia, a five percent increase over the previous year (Tourism Australia 2006). Despite media headlines labelling Australia as an unsafe place to visit, this paper provides factual information indicating that the risk of homicide victimisation faced by tourists who visit Australia is extremely low. Between 1994 and 2003, the murder rate of tourists was 0.9 per million short-term visitors to Australia. In the most recent year for which data are available there were only two tourists murdered.

Proceedings of a symposium held 21-26 August 1994, Adelaide

Contents

• Preface
• About the editors
• Contributors
• Introduction: president's opening address
  Chris Sumner, formerly President of the World Society of Victimology; and Member of the National Native Title Tribunal, Australia

Section 1: Power, politics and victimisation

• Section overview
  Mark Israel, Department of Legal Studies, Flinders University, South Australia
• Paradigms and paradoxes of victimology

Australia is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse nations in the world. Australians identify with over 100 different faiths or religious traditions (Bouma 2006) and over 300 languages are spoken in Australian households (AMF 2013). Although a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs are present within the Australian community, the nation has experienced a relatively peaceful recent history.

Foreword | Arson homicides are rare, representing only two percent of all homicides in Australia each year. In this study, data was collected from the AIC’s National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) to build on previous research undertaken into arson-associated homicides (Davies & Mouzos 2007) and to provide more detailed analysis of cases and offenders.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Background
• Methods
• Findings
• Discussion
• References

Foreword | Crime prevention work, both in Australia and overseas, has long been distinctive for its strong commitment to the use of "whole of government" approaches to the development of policies and the implementation of programs. Whole of government approaches are built on the assumption that because we know the causes of crime are complex and multifaceted, then preventive responses will be more effective if we combine the efforts of all the relevant government agencies (and community and business groups) into a single coordinated strategy.

Foreword | An overview of key trends in juvenile detention in Australia since 1981 is provided in this paper, based on data contained in the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Juveniles in Detention in Australia Monitoring Program database. In addition, two key trends in juvenile detention in Australia are discussed.

Foreword | In their Trends and Issues paper, "Red Flags of Fraud", Grabosky and Duffield (2001) identified a number of warning signals for fraud, or anomalies. While the existence of anomalies is not always indicative of criminality, they do signify heightened risks that should be investigated further.

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), in partnership with the Attorney-General the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP and state and territory police commissioners, has awarded 9 projects with an Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award (ACVPA).

The ACVPAs recognise best practice in the prevention or reduction of violence and other types of crime in Australia and play a vital role in highlighting effective community-based initiatives to prevent crime and violence before it occurs.

Foreword | A multifaceted strategy is required to effectively combat organised crime. A key element of preventing and responding to organised criminal activity is to target how individuals become involved in illicit activities and to develop effective methods of preventing their recruitment.

Reducing the rate of self-inflicted deaths in prison has long been a priority for correctional agencies across Australia and internationally. The rate of self-inflicted deaths in the prison population greatly exceeds that of self-inflicted deaths in the community; prisoners represent a particularly vulnerable and high-risk group for suicide. This paper updates Dalton’s (1999) national overview of self-inflicted deaths, which analysed data from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s (AIC) National Deaths in Custody Program (NDICP) for the period 1980–1998.

Foreword | While it has been established that there is an intergenerational transmission of criminal behaviour (ie crime can run through generations in families), the role of gender in the intergenerational transfer of criminality has not been fully explored. The impact of a father’s criminality on the subsequent offending of his sons and grandsons has been established, but the impact of a father's criminality on the offending of his daughter and the impact of a mother's criminal history on the offending of her sons and/or daughters is less clear.

Foreword | The Australian Institute of Criminology has spent a number of years working with crime prevention agencies across Australia reviewing large-scale programs that involve the delivery of varying activities directed at the prevention of crime. Taken as a whole, this experience has shown that, despite good intentions and aspirations to evidence-based practice, both the level and quality of evaluations have been limited by several practical challenges.

Foreword | Australia's immigration rate is among the highest in the world. Migrants face special challenges integrating into a new country, especially if their language, skin colour, religion or cultural practices set them apart from mainstream society. To assess the experiences of crime among migrants, the Australian component of the 2004 International Crime Victimisation Survey oversampled migrants who were born or whose parents were born in Vietnam or the Middle East.