Justice Collaboration 

Monthly Update 

Edition 12, June 2025

Welcome to the 12th edition of our newsletter!

The University of Sydney Justice Collaboration unites researchers, students, and partners to enhance justice systems and outcomes, with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches.

The University of Sydney has numerous strengths in this area and has a track record of work across disciplines, faculties and research centres directly and indirectly relevant to justice systems and people in conflict with the law. 

In this edition we highlight recent projects and publications from across the University of Sydney. We also introduce Dr Sacha Jamieson and the MCYS - two of our new affiliates. 

The University of Sydney’s central campus sits on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and has campuses as well as teaching and research facilities situated on the ancestral lands of the Wangal, Deerubbin, Tharawal, Ngunnawal, Wiradjuri, Gamilaroi, Bundjulong, Wiljali and Gereng Gureng peoples. We pay our respects to elders, past, present, and emerging who have cared and continue to care for Country.

Co-production in action: Youth Advisory Board making an impact through the Youth Priorities Project

In April 2025, the Matilda Centre published The Coproduced Youth Priorities Project: Australian Youth Priorities for Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention Research in the academic journal Health Expectations. The study surveyed over 660 young Australians to understand their views on what should be prioritised in mental health and substance use prevention research. Previous activities have worked to identify Australians’ priorities for mental health research, but none have centred young people as primary stakeholders, making this a first of its kind in Australia.

A Coproduction Research Team (CPRT), which consisted of two members of the Matilda Centre Youth Advisory Board (YAB), two researchers and three coordinators was established to lead and contribute to the project. Youth CPRT members were involved in all stages of the research including agenda setting, coproducing the research design and protocol, developing recruitment materials, recruiting participants, collecting data , facilitating focus groups and even presenting findings to stakeholders at conferences.

At the end of the project, young people had identified five final principles for investment and nine priorities for youth mental health and substance use prevention research. They also made eight recommendations for actions that governments can take immediately to support youth mental health.

You can read these recommendations and out more about the project here.

One child in every Australian classroom affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, study finds

A new study led by the late Dr Tracey Tsang of the University of Sydney has found that up to one in 28 Australians – or roughly one child per classroom – may be living with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a potentially preventable condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. 

Published in the Drug and Alcohol Review, it is the first Australian study to estimate FASD prevalence in the general population, using national-level modelling. Researchers combined data on alcohol use during pregnancy in Australia with the known risk of FASD to estimate a national prevalence rate of 3.64 percent, or nearly 4 per hundred. The result was drawn from a meta-analysis of 78 studies spanning from 1975 to 2018.

The report highlights the urgent need for increased awareness of the harms of prenatal alcohol exposure. Early diagnosis and early intervention are critical to improve life outcomes, particularly in vulnerable populations such as youth in detention, children in foster care, and some remote Indigenous communities, where prevalence rates of FASD are significantly higher.

You can read the full paper here.

Exploring AI in criminal justice: What Malaysia can teach us

As nations around the world grapple with how emerging technologies intersect with justice, a new University of Sydney study is looking to Malaysia for insights on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in criminal sentencing.

Funded by the South East Asia Centre’s Ignition Grant, the project 'Exploring the Role of AI in Criminal Justice: Lessons Learned from Practitioners in Malaysia' is a timely and globally relevant collaboration between The University of Sydney’s Professor Azrini Wahidin, Professor Lemuria Carter and Dr Haezreena Hamid from the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Law.

With Malaysia currently undergoing a national criminal justice review, the country has emerged as a key site for studying how technology and justice intersect.

At the heart of this is Malaysia’s pioneering development of AI-based sentencing tools—namely, the Artificial Intelligence Sentencing System (AISS), also known as the Artificial Intelligence in Court System (AiCOS). These tools, first launched in Sabah and Sarawak in 2020, are now being gradually introduced across Peninsular Malaysia.

You can find out more about the project here.

New Book: Research Handbook on Youth Criminology

This timely Handbook, edited by the University of Sydney’s Dr Estrella Pearce and Professor Greg Martin, provides historical, contemporary, theoretical and methodological perspectives on youth criminology. It explores cutting-edge research on juvenile justice and youth governance and proposes directions for future research.

Bringing together a diverse range of international experts, the Handbook emphasises the hybrid nature of youth justice governance, highlighting ongoing debates over prioritising human rights, welfare, justice, or risk management. The chapters explore trends in youth criminology drawing on empirical data from a variety of geographical and institutional contexts of juvenile justice. Key topics include the care and criminalisation of institutionalised children, moral panic theory and its relevance to child sexual abuse, the criminal responsibility of young people in Australia and China, and the experiences of girls in custody in the Brazilian youth justice system. They also discuss the involvement of children in armed conflicts across different jurisdictions, and present reformist perspectives on juvenile legal systems, including reflections on the minimum age of criminal responsibility and abolitionist debates.

Providing global insights, case studies and real-life examples, the Research Handbook on Youth Criminology will be an invaluable resource for university students and academic researchers in sociology and criminology, as well as practitioners and policymakers working in juvenile justice and youth governance.

You can find out more and preorder the handbook here.

Should a criminal record automatically cost you your job? New study says no

A recent paper led by Associate Professor Sandra Noakes examines the risk of dismissal as a “collateral consequence” of a criminal record. The paper highlights a growing trend: employers increasingly scrutinising off-duty behaviour, including employees’ conduct on social media, and past criminal behaviour outside of work.

“In most cases, employers should not be allowed to dismiss an employee because the criminal record reflects badly on the employer. Most employees are not paid to be their employer’s brand ambassadors when they are ‘off the clock’,” Associate Professor Noakes said.

The research recommends a new legal framework centred on fairness, relevance, and rehabilitation. Among the proposals: a direct link should exist between the specific requirements of the job and dismissal based on a criminal record; better alignment of unfair dismissal laws with anti-discrimination laws and the protection of an employee’s right to a personal life; and a reduction in “invisible punishments” that prevent reintegration after justice has been served.

You can read the paper published in the Tasmanian Law Review here.

Dr Sacha Jamieson

Dr Sacha Jamieson is a qualitative researcher of health, carcerality, and the moral-political activity of professional work. Her work examines the intersections of structural oppression, institutional discourse and practices, ethics, and health equity. Using critical methodologies, her research aims to inform theory, policy and practice by examining the construction of health and social issues and centreing the experiences of service users.

Sacha has practiced as a social worker in acute mental health services and as a researcher on projects focused on the health and social and emotional wellbeing of criminalised and incarcerated women.

Last year, Sacha co-authored a paper examining the health and social circumstances women experience when reimprisonment occurs. The study explored the relationship between social determinants of health, mental health, substance-use and recidivism among women exiting prison with histories of substance-use. It found that substance-use was associated with increased odds of recidivism. Poor mental health, ongoing social support, child custody, financial and housing needs were all associated with increased odds of substance-use.

These findings emphasise the need for approaches the target the social determinants of health as means to reduce mental distress, substance-use and related recidivism.

You can read the full paper, published in the Harm Reduction Journal, here.

The Manchester Centre for Youth Studies 

Established in 2014 (by Professor Hannah Smithson), the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies (MCYS) has established itself as an internationally recognised research centre, known for its innovative methodological approaches to working with young people. MCYS has a particular focus on young people in youth justice systems and young people’s mental health. 

Co-directors Dr Paul Gray and Dr Deborah Jump recently visited the University of Sydney, meeting with a range of our academics and research centres. Dr Gray and Dr Jump also presented a fantastic seminar on the recent work of the MCYS, including their research into girls associated with gangs and the use of storytelling with young people who have committed serious violence.

You can find out more about the MCYS, and subscribe to their podcast, here. 

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