This report assesses whether confidence in the New South Wales criminal justice system has changed since 2007, whether changes in knowledge and/or punitiveness underpin any changes in confidence, and whether confidence in police differs from confidence in the courts. Method: Repeat cross-sectional survey of the NSW public (n=2,002 in 2007; n=2,001 in 2012). The survey...

This is the first Australian study to measure the prevalence of mental disorder among offenders nationally, using information provided by 690 police detainees who participated in the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program. Around half reported having been diagnosed with a mental disorder in the past. Many criminal justice practitioners have...

There is a lack of empirical research in Australia examining the lifecourse institutional costs associated with vulnerable people who are homeless. The study presented here has developed pathway costings using the Mental Health and Cognitive Disability in the Criminal Justice System (MHDCD) Dataset that contains data on lifelong interventions and interactions with all criminal justice...

This statistical report examines data on the operation of sentence appeals in Victoria. In particular, the report addresses the absence of data available on sentence appeals brought by offenders and the Crown and on patterns of decision-making in sentence appeal cases heard by the Court of Appeal.

This snapshot describes the penalties imposed on adult offenders convicted of motor vehicle theft. Over the period 2009 to 2010 a total of 1018 offenders were convicted of motor vehicle theft in NSW Local and District Courts. Imprisonment was the most commonly imposed penalty, followed by a bond without supervision and a suspended sentence. The...