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Not much is known about the risk and fear of different kinds of crime, including fraud, among older people. It is often thought that older people are more afraid of crime than others. However, research paints a more complex picture with certain groups being more fearful and vulnerable than others (Chivite-Matthews & Maggs 2002). When planning crime prevention and community safety interventions it is important to remember that there is considerable diversity among older people (see CRM 29).

Over the past 10 years, a range of crime prevention strategies have been developed and employed to reduce armed robbery. The main aims of these strategies have been to secure commercial premises to deter armed robbery attempts and to reduce the possible rewards from armed robbery. Combinations of different methods have been used, but they primarily involve techniques based on situational crime prevention.

Shoplifting is one of the most common crimes affecting small businesses in Australia. More than one in five businesses that participated in the 1999 Small Business Crime Survey reported being the victim of shoplifting. It has been estimated that shoplifting costs Australian businesses around $810 million annually.

The previous Bulletin reported on research showing how elemental analysis can be used to link matches with fire scenes and suspects. This issue looks at another recent study that demonstrates the potential for forensic science to assist arson investigators.

Foreword | Another Trends & Issues paper (Prenzler 2011) identified key dimensions of welfare fraud in Australia and some of the social issues associated with efforts to reduce fraud. The present paper makes a more detailed examination of detection and prevention strategies, reporting on a range of initiatives that have been introduced progressively over the last three decades. These initiatives appear to be consistent with trends in comparable jurisdictions.

The Creating Futures Justice Program today received a silver award in the community-led category of the 2023 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards (ACVPAs).

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.

It is estimated that between 25 and 50 percent of bushfires attended by fire authorities every year in Australia are the result of deliberate lightings (Davies 1997; Weber 1999; Willis 2004). Although the total area burned by deliberate lightings is commonly less than for fires started by lightning (Kapardis, Rawson & Antonopoulos 1983) and, as noted in last month's bulletin, many are not intended to cause harm, the cumulative effect of such firesetting activities is significant for both the community and the environment.

Introduction

The value of public resources lost each year in Australia because of fraud, waste and abuse defies precise quantification, but almost certainly runs to many millions of dollars. In the climate of fiscal restraint which has become normal for all Australian governments, it is more important than ever that public funds are managed responsibly.

Foreword | The concept of 'risk assessment' is of increasing relevance when dealing with the prevention of criminal behaviour. This risk can be examined from a number of viewpoints. In an earlier Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice paper (no. 280) the risk of reoffending by Indigenous male violent and sexual offenders was examined. This paper looks at the issue from a mental health perspective.

Foreword | International surveys have suggested that around one-third of all adult women will, at some point in their lifetime, experience abuse perpetrated by an intimate male partner. Domestic violence is considered to be one of the major risk factors affecting women’s health in Australia and there is a need for the community to respond in ways that reduce the likelihood of further violence occurring. One way of doing this is to deliver programs that aim to reduce the risk of known perpetrators committing further offences.

Natural bushfires are governed by the forces of nature: although lightning strikes potentially at any time of the day, most natural fires occur from midday to 6 pm, coincident with the hot conditions conducive to thunderstorm activity. In contrast the timing of human-caused bushfires largely reflects the activities and movements of people within their local environment, be that the day-to-day activities of work, school, shopping etc, or personal and social activities that take place after hours.

Digital evidence

While the computer is sometimes likened to a smoking gun, it is much more a silent witness. Careful investigation is required to uncover and preserve what it might say, and sophisticated forensic analysis must be applied to relay that to the court. In fact, despite the impression sometimes conveyed in the media, it is not always easy to investigate or prosecute high tech crime. The main evidential difficulties are the ephemeral nature of records such as ISP data logs and the capacity for the internet to be used anonymously (AGEC 2000).