CrimNet

2 July 2024

After 3-and-a-half years as Directors of the Sydney Institute of Criminology, Dr Carolyn McKay and Dr Andrew Dyer will be stepping aside, effective 1 July 2024. They will be replaced as Directors by Dr Allan McCay and Professor Saskia Hufnagel. Andrew will be taking up an appointment as an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne Law School, while Carolyn will remain on the academic staff at Sydney. 

Carolyn and Andrew have been energetic and effective Directors and we thank them very much for their service. Among other achievements, they have: instituted and maintained a successful continuing professional development seminar series for legal practitioners; organised a conference for criminal justice higher degree by research students; set up an annual Domestic and Family Violence conference, which has been capably organised by Associate Professor Helen Paterson each time it has been run; maintained the ‘Beyond Punishment’ seminars, which for decades have been run by the Institute in conjunction with Corrective Services NSW; organised and hosted a number of Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lectures; and participated in the organisation and running of many other Institute events. They have also conscientiously managed the day-to-day affairs of the Institute; and, in 2022, they successfully steered the Institute through its 5-year review.

We wish Carolyn and Andrew all the best for the future and look forward to working under the direction of Allan and Saskia.

Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ) provides detailed analysis of national and international issues by a range of outstanding contributors. It includes contemporary comments, with discussion at the cutting edge of the crime and justice debate, as well as reviews of recently released books.

CICJ accepts submissions on a rolling basis.

Editor: Professor Colin King, member of the Sydney Institute of Criminology

You can access current (Volume 36, 2024) and previous issues of Current Issues in Criminal Justice here.

If you have a book suitable for review by CICJ, please email the books editor, Celine Van Golde at celine.vangolde@sydney.edu.au 

For more updates, follow CICJ on X here.

Enhancing Safe Practice: A National Justice Forum on Sexual Assault

In-person event

Date: 2-4 August 2024

Venue: Supreme Court of New South Wales, Banco Court,
Queens Square, 184 Phillip St, Sydney NSW

As part of the Australian Government initiatives to support the implementation of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032, the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA) is convening a national conference on the impacts of sexual assault. This is an important initiative intended to continue to build and enhance justice sector capacity for the better support and protection of victims and survivors of sexual assault.

The conference, which will be held on 2-4 August 2024 at the Supreme Court of New South Wales, will draw speakers and panellists from throughout Australia and New Zealand. The sessions will include an overview of the process in relation to cases involving sexual assault and will focus on:

•an understanding of national consent laws from perspectives in different jurisdictions;

•the trial process;

•trauma neurobiological impacts of sexual violence and myths and misconceptions; and

•criminological, psychological and social perspectives.

There will also be sessions which focus on issues impacting population groups which are overrepresented in sexual violence statistics; and vicarious trauma, including the well-being of those involved in sexual assault matters.

It is intended that the conference will complement the sexual assault education and training workshops that are being conducted as part of the Australian Government’s initiatives in this area and will extend the understanding of how to ensure safe practice in the process of responding to sexual violence.

This conference will provide guidance and education for judicial officers; academics; judicial administrators; those involved in the management and response to sexual assaults; members of government bodies working in this area; and, importantly, members of the legal profession, students and the public.  It will play an important role in enhancing safe practice for those tasked with responding to sexual violence in our community, and those in the justice sector.

Attendees at the conference may also wish to attend a conference dinner (separate from the conference itself) at which the internationally acclaimed playwright, Suzie Miller, will speak.

Please register here.

Program overview here.

Police Accountability in NSW: A conversation with the Chief Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission

When: Wednesday 3 July, 12:30-2pm AEST
Where: In-person at UNSW Law & Justice

Join the Centre for Criminology, Law and Justice for a conversation between Dr Vicki Sentas and the Hon Peter Johnson SC, Chief Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) where we will discuss combatting police misconduct and the challenges of police accountability.

This seminar will take place in person at the UNSW Law & Justice Building (Staff Common Room, Level Two). A light lunch will be provided.

Please register here.

Senior Research Officer, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research

Applications close: Sunday, 7 July 2024 at 11:59pm AEST.

Primary purpose of the role: Conduct research into crime and criminal justice.

Key accountabilities:

•Undertake research into crime and criminal justice.

•Evaluate the impact of programs on crime, criminal justice and re-offending.

•Write research reports and briefing notes.

•Present papers at seminars and conferences.

•Provide technical advice to Departmental staff and staff from other agencies on research methodology.

•Review research proposals and research papers by outside individuals and organisations.

 More details about the role here.

Special Issue Open Call for Papers: Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ)

Title: The Project of Police Accountability: A Chimera?

Abstract deadline: 30 June 2024

Guest editors and contact details:

Dr Pascale Chifflet at p.chifflet@latrobe.edu.au 

Dr Laura Griffin at l.griffin@latrobe.edu.au

Dr Meribah Rose at meribah.rose@latrobe.edu.au

Scope: Longstanding calls for change to the police oversight framework in Australia have highlighted the limitations of existing institutions and mechanisms. Acknowledging that police-related harms are inherently tied to Australia’s colonial context, this special issue seeks to examine whether it is in fact possible to achieve accountability through the reformation of legal structures, or whether accountability will only emerge from more fundamental structural and socio-political change.

We welcome submissions on a range of topics related to police accountability, including on the operation of various legal and regulatory mechanisms as well as abolitionist-informed responses.

We are keen to present a diverse range of perspectives on the issue and particularly welcome submissions from First Nations contributors. We encourage academics, PhD students and practitioners to contribute. Please feel free to reach out to the guest editors if you would like to discuss your ideas.

Timeline

• Abstracts (400 words maximum) should be submitted to the special issue editors by 30 June 2024

• The decision on accepted abstracts will be made by 15 July 2024

• Full papers are to be submitted to the editorial team by 4 October 2024

• Publication is expected in mid-2025.

Instructions for authors CICJ publishes:

1. full-length articles (8,000 words limit, including references),

2. contemporary comments (shorter articles on ‘cutting issues’, approx. 4,000-5,000 words including references), and

3. book reviews.

Please refer to the information on the journal’s aims, scope and style here.

 Dr. Rachel Killean, The University of Sydney.

Read here .

The Sentencing Advisory Council has this morning released its latest report, The Criminal Justice Diversion Program in Victoria: Second Statistical Profile. The report examines the use of the criminal justice diversion program in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria for the 10 years to 30 June 2021. 

Some of the key findings include: 

•There were over 50,000 diversion plans in that 10-year period, increasing over time to 6.6% of all Magistrates' Court outcomes

•The vast majority of people receiving diversion plans successfully complete them (93%)

•People receiving diversion plans are half as likely to reoffend in the next 5 years (21%) as people receiving other court outcomes (40%)

•The people most likely to receive diversion plans are younger offenders (aged 18 to 19), people committing property offences, and female family violence offenders

Please read here.

Dr. Allan McCay, Co-Director, Sydney Institute of Criminology comments on future of the law in the light of artificial intelligence.

Read here.

David Hamer, University of Sydney,  Gary Edmund, UNSW

Read here. 

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