Crime stoppers programs generally involve collaboration between police and the media to encourage the public to report information to a toll-free line that may lead to the prevention of a crime or the apprehension of offenders, offering anonymity and the possibility of a reward. Dennis Challinger evaluates the Victorian program in terms of public and...

The objective of this study for the Office of the Status of Women was to describe and analyse factors influencing prosecutorial decisions to proceed with, discontinue or enter into charge negotiations in cases referred to state and territory public prosecutions offices. Denise Lievore's findings suggest that existing policies and guidelines provide a reasonable safeguard against...

Risk assessments are necessary to decide which offenders should be targeted for rehabilitation and to deal with the increasing demand by the public and politicians that offenders who are at a high risk of reoffending, especially violent and sexual offending, should not be released prematurely. Alfred Allen and Deborah Dawson report on a risk assessment...

Bernadette McSherry looks at the issue of violence prevention from a mental health perspective, discussing the implications for sentencing decisions and examining the ethical and legal background to such assessments.

The report is founded on evidence obtained directly from victims of drink spiking in addition to data received from police in each Australian jurisdiction and data from the Centre Against Sexual Assault. Natalie Taylor, Jeremy Prichard and Kate Charlton highlight the degree to which drink spiking is under-reported, a fundamental challenge in measuring the extent...