Edited by the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology

New Research

From crisis to crime: the escalation of civil and family law issues to criminal matters in Aboriginal communities in NSW

10 March 2010The issue of appropriate legal and social supports is critical to the question of Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. This article discusses this relationship, arguing that the overwhelming emphasis on communities' criminal law needs distracts from other equally important, though perhaps less urgent, practical concerns.

Targeting scams

08 March 2010More than 20,000 scam reports were made to the ACCC in 2009, an approximate increase of 16 per cent compared with 2008. This report explains key trends in scam activity and highlights the impact of scams on the community.

Assessing the impact of 'available street time' and mortality on estimates of recidivism

04 March 2010Using survival analysis techniques to derive estimates of reoffending, the study compares adjusted and unadjusted rates and assesses how these rates vary for different offender populations and over different follow-up periods.
Challenges in dealing with politically exposed persons

Challenges in dealing with politically exposed persons

26 February 2010This paper outlines some of the key challenges and policy implications related to dealing with prominent people and risks when entering into financial transactions and business relationships with them.

Crime risks of three-dimensional virtual environments

24 February 2010The 'virtual-reality' promoted by 3dves is the source of great speculation and concern over a range of specific and emerging forms of crime and harm to users.
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Crime

Rights

Do employers discriminate by gender? A field experiment in female-dominated occupations

05 March 2010This paper tests for gender discrimination by sending fake CVs to apply for entry-level jobs.

Child protection and freedom of speech online

01 March 2010Advocates of online child protection and freedom of expression share a deep-seated belief in the importance of protecting basic human rights. Yet these beliefs are often clouded by perceived (and real) opposition in the actual practice of law, policy, and regulation. This has restricted the policy options available for dealing with threats to both child safety and free speech online, and has often resulted in these interests being portrayed as diametrically opposed.

Securing Australia, protecting our community

23 February 2010This white paper sets out the Australia government’s counter-terrorism objectives and the means by which it will pursue them.

Commentary

Australia-India: reimagining the relationship

15 February 2010First, let’s fix the education problems. Then let’s recognise the missing link in Australia–India relations, writes Robin Jeffrey in Inside Story

Making prison work

24 November 2009Why are prisons less a portal to a new life than a revolving door? Corrective services need to correct, not just punish, writes Andrew Leigh in On Line Opinion

Why South Australia bikie laws went too far

08 October 2009Quite apart from their potential for misuse, they are corrosive of core legal values, writes Andrew Lynch in The Australian
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Audio

Internet piracy

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13 January 2010Copyright began 300 years ago, but now laws can't cope with the anarchy of new technologies.

A response to genocide

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08 October 2009Justice Thomas Buergenthal, International Court of Justice and former child prisoner, presented this 2009 Castan Centre Annual Lecture in association with Holding Redlich and the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Law

OK, computer: file sharing, the music industry, and why we need the pirate party

OK, computer: file sharing, the music industry, and why we need the pirate party

05 March 2010This essay examines the central issues raised by illegal file sharing and the future for record companies in an environment that increasingly demands flexibility.

Video

Policing our minds

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13 November 2009Should we disregard individual rights such as privacy, informed consent and free will, in order to protect the community from serious and organised crime?

Alcohol and culture change: Current challenges and conundrums

Listen to audio
16 October 2009Anne Roche, Director, National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University speaks about evidenced based culture change versus intuition and commonsense in the campaign to fight alcohol based social problems.

Justice system

Websites

Cybercrime

21 September 2009This section of The Australian Institute of Criminology's website outlines extensive research into various forms of crime relating to the use of electronic communications and computing systems.

AustLII: Australasian Legal Information Institute

18 September 2009The Australasian Legal Information Institute provides free internet access to Australasian legal materials. AustLII is one of the largest sources of legal materials on the net, with over 20 gigabytes of raw text materials and over four million searchable documents.

Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault

27 May 2009The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA) aims to improve access to current information and resources in order to assist those committed to working against sexual assault. ACSSA will help to support and develop strategies that aim to prevent, respond to, and ultimately reduce the incidence of this crime.

Most viewed: This week

1
Do employers discriminate by gender? A field experiment in female-dominated occupations
2
Perspectives on migrants 2010
3
From crisis to crime: the escalation of civil and family law issues to criminal matters in Aboriginal communities in NSW
4
OK, computer: file sharing, the music industry, and why we need the pirate party
5
Report on government services 2010

Jobs

Events

Conference
ACOSS National Conference 2010: A vote for equity
25 Mar 2010 - 9:00am - 26 Mar 2010 - 5:00pm
Canberra
Conference
Workforce Policy in 2010 and Into the Future
31 Mar 2010
Sydney

Books

The mother of Mohammed: An Australian woman's extraordinary journey into Jihad

The mother of Mohammed: An Australian woman's extraordinary journey into Jihad

  • Sally Neighbour
  • Melbourne University Publishing
From Mudgee girl, to hippy backpacker, to Muslim convert and perceived threat to Australia’s national security, the extraordinary story of Rabiah Hutchinson.
Drawing the global colour line: white men's countries and the international challenge of racial equality

Drawing the global colour line: white men's countries and the international challenge of racial equality

  • Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds
  • Melbourne University Publishing
A pioneering account of the transnational production of whiteness in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Noticeboard

Secrecy law reforms strike a blow to old culture of government secrecy
12 March 2010

The Australian Law Reform Commission report into Commonwealth secrecy laws, Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112) is the result of a 15 -month inquiry which identified 506 secrecy provisions in 176 pieces of Commonwealth legislation, including 358 criminal secrecy offences.

ALRC Family Violence Inquiry - monthly newsletter
11 January 2010

The 2009 report of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children—Time For Action—identified the complex interaction between state and territory family and domestic violence and child protection laws and the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). The National Council made a number of recommendations, including that the ALRC should undertake an inquiry into these laws.

Policy Guides

Arts for all: opening doors to people with a disability

This guide provides practical and long-term ways for artists and arts organisations to enhance their access, market their events to the disabled community and build new audiences.

15-02-10

Topics

APO