CrimNet

27 October 2023

Domestic and Family Violence Conference

Conference: 9 November 2023

Domestic and family violence is rife in Australia. Concerningly, 1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner, and one woman a week is killed (AIHW, 2018).

To address this complex issue, the Sydney Institute of Criminology is organising a one-day conference on domestic and family violence. This event will take place in person on Gadigal Land at The University of Sydney Camperdown Campus on Thursday, 9 November 2023.

The conference will bring together a diverse group of people, including academics, professionals working in community organisations, and those with lived experience. It is hoped that we will be able to learn from one another’s knowledge and experiences to enhance our understanding of and responses to this urgent national issue. Our aim is to start a dialogue between community organisations and researchers that may lead to mutually beneficial research collaborations.

Professor Murray Lee is a Professor in Criminology at the University of Sydney Law School. He is a member of the Sydney Institute of Criminology. His research interests focus broadly on representations of crime and processes of criminalisation. His work on public perceptions and fear of crime has been influential at a policy and academic level, while his critical studies of sexting,the mediatization of crime and crime control,and the development of new forms surveillance such as police body worn cameras, have explored the criminalising capacities of emergent technologies. His current research projects involve the criminology of popular musicor musicriminology and the criminalisation of environmental protest.  

Professor Murray Lee has been a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, John Jay College, and the University of Liverpool. He is the author of Inventing Fear of Crime: Criminology and the Politics of Anxiety, co-author of Policing and Media: Public Relations, Simulations and Communications, co-author of Sexting and Young People, co-editor of Fear of Crime: Critical Voices in an Age of Anxiety, co-editor of The Routledge International Handbook on Fear of Crime, and served as editor of the scholarly journal Current Issues in Criminal Justice for ten years.

Prof. Jioji Ravulo, Director of ONEFOUR: Against All Odds; Gabriel Gasparinatos, Dr Toby Martin, Prof. Murray Lee

Dr Toby Martin, Joel Frederic (UK based Mixtape Madness), Prof. Murray Lee, Vyvienne Abla (VYVA Entertainment and manager of Barkaa and Dobby), Ricky Simandjuntak (manager ONEFOUR). 

Professor Murray Lee has been involved in two events at SXSW based on his research into the policing and criminalisation of drill / rap music. The first is that Prof. Murray Lee and fellow research team member, Prof. Jioji Ravulo appear as interviewees in the new film documentary ONEFOUR: Against All Odds. He attended the premier at the ICC Theatre on SXSW opening night. The film will premier on Netflix. In summary, it is the story of drill / rap group ONEFOUR from Mount Druitt, their rise to international stardom, and their conflict with police that has effectively seen them banned from performing in their own country. 

The other event was a panel in De-Criminalising Hip Hop on 19 October 2023 at the Powerhouse Museum Theatre. Chaired by Dr Toby Martin (part of Prof. Murray Lee's research team) the panel discussed policing and the limits of creative self-expression, and how the suppression of certain forms of hip hop overwhelmingly affects artists of colour. It will also examine how change might be effected into the future. 

In the latest episode of Just Cause, Professor Ben Saul joins Juliette Marchant and Institute member, Dr. Rachel Killean to provide an informed overview of the potential international crimes that have been perpetrated in Israel and Gaza over the last few weeks. Join Dr. Rachel Killean to celebrate the launch of ‘Just Cause,’ a podcast created by staff and students affiliated with the Sydney Law School Social Justice Advisory Group. 

Register here. 

It has been more than 60 years since Anthony Burgess wrote 'A Clockwork Orange', a dystopian take on science, technology and punishment. Yet some of its themes may become increasingly relevant as contemporary advancements afford new ways of using scientific and technological means to address crime.

Institute Deputy Director, Dr Allan McCay, authored an article titled, 'A Clockwork Orange again?' which addresses the following questions: In determining punishment, should courts give offenders what they deserve, or just try to manage them to stop reoffending? If courts primarily focus on managing the problem of crime, should they draw on the best science and technology available to reduce recidivism? And would a technological approach to punishment be morally troubling?

Read here. 

Children’s Rights and Participation in Youth Justice Systems: An International Perspective

Institute member, Associate Professor Garner Clancey joined a panel of Academics and professionals and discussed the upholding of children’s rights and participation in the English and Australian Youth Justice Systems.

The 2023/24 Criminal Law CPD Series, presented by the Sydney Institute of Criminology, is an innovative educational program made up of 8 recorded webinars.

Our series covers a wide range of criminal law topics, including criminal procedure, evidence law, and criminal advocacy. Led by experienced legal professionals, our webinars are designed to help you stay up to date with the latest developments in criminal law and earn your mandatory CPD points.

A new webinar will be released each month from April to November and will include a quiz to test your comprehension of the material being discussed.  

Register now for the full series or individual webinars and enjoy the flexibility of watching at your own pace from any location at any time.  

Information for lawyers and barristers
If this educational activity is relevant to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim 1.5 MCLE/CPD points per seminar attended.

Practitioners are advised to check with the CPD governing body in their jurisdiction for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Find out about interstate accreditation.

Cost: Full series (8 x webinars) = $300 
Individual webinar(s) = $50

Non-consensual sexual offence law reform in Western Australia

Substantive Law 

Dr Andrew Dyer -  Available now

The Attorney-General of Western Australia has asked that State’s Law Reform Commission to review Western Australia’s sexual offence laws. In December 2022, the Commission published a Discussion Paper that deals with the law relating to sexual consent and the operation of honest and reasonable mistake of fact in non-consensual sexual offence proceedings. This seminar will consider the various reform options. 

Vulnerable witness advocacy

Practice Management and Business Skills, Ethics and professional responsibility

Philip Hogan -  Available now

This seminar will discuss the definition of a vulnerable witness in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) and the provisions in the Act that allow for the use of pre-recorded evidence and provide for other alternative means of giving evidence. The seminar will particularly consider the way a complainant’s evidence is adduced in the Child Sexual Assault Program operating in some NSW courts. There will also be some discussion of Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) provisions that may be relevant to the evidence of a vulnerable witness. Finally, the seminar will cover relevant provisions of the Equality before the Law Bench Book and some findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 

Digital vulnerability: Vulnerable individuals and remote access technologies in justice

Ethics and professional responsibility. Professional skills. Practice Management. 

Dr Carolyn McKay - Available now

This seminar will focus on the use of remote access technologies, such as audiovisual links, when working with vulnerable individuals in the justice system, and the developing concept of ‘digital vulnerability’. The seminar will draw on Dr McKay’s current Australian Research Council (‘ARC’) funded research and examine the multiple layers of vulnerability that individuals may experience while involved in legal matters. It will present preliminary findings from initial fieldwork interviews with lawyers and judicial officers that reveal critical perspectives on the impacts of digitalisation on vulnerable people in the justice system. While the research project and findings centre on the criminal justice system, many of the issues are equally relevant to legal practitioners working with vulnerable people in civil matters. 

Assessing witness credibility: Is it possible to tell whether someone is lying or telling the truth?

Substantive law. Professional skills.

Associate Professor Helen Paterson - Available now

Witness testimony can be extremely influential in legal investigations and trials; however, sometimes witnesses lie. Such deception can be detrimental to due process, and can result in miscarriages of justice. Thus, it is important for legal personnel and factfinders to be able to determine whether someone is lying or telling the truth. This interactive seminar will discuss research investigating behavioural and content indicators of deception. It will help legal practitioners understand the difficulties in discriminating liars from truth-tellers as well as the evidence base for various lie detection techniques. 

Advocacy in the Children's Court: Considerations for criminal matters involving children and young persons

Ethics and professional responsibility. Professional skills.

Judge Ellen Skinner, Shannon Richards and James Clifford - Available now 

The Children’s Court deals with a wide range of cases across New South Wales involving children and young people. In its criminal jurisdiction, matters involve defendants under the age of 18. There are complexities in the legislation as to how certain charges involving children and young persons proceed, including considerations of doli incapax and whether the charges can remain at the summary level or should be dealt with ‘at law’ in a higher court. This presentation will discuss issues around the age of criminal responsibility and the committal process in the Children’s Court. It will help lawyers practising criminal law who appear in the Children’s Court, and provide perspectives from the Bench, prosecution and defence. 

Probative value and admissibility in the criminal trial: Focus and holism

Substantive law

Professor David Hamer - 
Available now 

In determining whether challenged evidence is admissible, the trial judge is often required to assess its probative value. The orthodox view is that this assessment focuses on the strength of connection between the challenged evidence and the fact in issue. However, a distinct strand of High Court jurisprudence, running through the common law and the uniform evidence legislation requires a holistic approach to probative value.

Gratuitous concurrence and the role of the prosecutor: Presenting a fair and firm Crown case in the face of sociolinguistic challenges

Professional skills. Ethics & professional responsibility.

Presenter: Shannon Matchett
Available now

This presentation will give an overview of the prosecutor’s role as a minister of justice, and the ethical framework in which the Crown operates. It will discuss judicial authorities that have developed and considered the phenomenon of gratuitous concurrence.

Self-represented accused and appellants in the criminal justice system, and a prosecutor’s duty

Ethics & professional responsibility. Professional skills.

Presenter: Felicity Evans
Release date: 23 November

This seminar will consider issues such as what a self-represented litigant is; the arrangements made for self-represented litigants in the criminal justice system; relevant prosecution guidelines; practical issues concerning self-represented litigants; balancing prosecutorial duties with the duty to assist the court; and case law that bears on such issues.

Should Deceptive Sex Always Be Rape? Dr Andrew Dyer - Substantive Law

The Role of the Crown Prosecutor in NSW Mr Brett Hatfield Practice - Management and Business Skills, Ethics and professional responsibility

The Reliability and Credibility of Eyewitnesses Associate Professor Helen Paterson - Substantive Law

Ethical Practice for Junior Criminal Law Barristers Ms Talitha Hennessy - Ethics and professional responsibility

Myths, Misconceptions and Mixed Messages: An Early Look at the New Tendency and Coincidence Evidence Provisions Professor David Hamer - Substantive Law

Advocacy in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal Mr John Stratton SC - Professional Skills

The Work of the Mental Health Review Tribunal Judge Paul Lakatos SC - Professional Skills

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: Dr Justin Ellis, member of the Sydney Institute of Criminology

You can access current 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

Seminar: Human rights, carcerality and Palestinian children; UNSW Law & Justice 

Mon, 13 Nov 2023; 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM 

Earlier this year the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanese’s report highlighted how expanding and multilayered forms of confinement in Palestine impacts children acutely. 

For more information, see here. 

Legal Education Research Conference 2023; UNSW Law & Justice 

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 9:30 AM - Tue, 21 Nov 2023 5:00 PM

The field of legal education is evolving, and a significant shift has taken place towards more experiential and practical learning approaches. The theme for this year is 'Situated Learning: Climate Change, First Nations Recognition, Generative AI'.

Register here. 

Symposium: Rural Crime, Justice & Disaster: Impacts, Response and Recovery; University of New England, Centre for Rural Criminology & the ISSRC

29 November 2023

This symposium explores the various types of disasters and how they impact rural areas, including pandemics, natural disasters, biosecurity, economic crises, and political turmoil. These events have significant effects on the social, environmental, and economic aspects of rural communities.

The symposium's focus is on the connection between these disasters and crime, with an emphasis on preventing, responding to, and recovering from them.

For more information, see here.  

KWOOP 2023 Parliamentary Breakfast

21 November 2023; 7:15 AM - 9:00 AM

The 8th Annual Keeping Women Out of Prison Parliament House Breakfast will be hosted by The Hon. Kate Rebecca Washington, MP.

The panel of speakers and MC will be announced shortly. 

For more information, see here. 

Legal Words for Interpreters and Bilingual Workers - Criminal Law Words; Legal Aid NSW

20 November 2023; 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM

In this face to face event, an experienced Legal Aid NSW criminal lawyer will explain some common and complex legal terminology in the area of criminal law.

For more information, see here. 

Child Sexual Abuse Reduction Research Network; Australian Institute of Criminology 

Monday 4 - Tuesday 5 December 2023

Child sexual abuse is a complex and harmful crime type that requires multi-sector collaboration to address. This workshop will bring together leading researchers and practitioners from around the world to share their research on combatting child sexual abuse, and foster new connections. The workshop will cover a wide range of relevant topics, including understanding offender behaviour patterns and pathways, new investigatory methods and approaches, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the use of offender-based interventions and prevention initiatives, as well as the provision of support to victim-survivors. Register here. 

Grant Opportunities: Australian Government Community Grants hub

Applications close: 9:00 pm, 07 December 2023.

The Attorney-General’s Department is offering 2 new open non-competitive funding opportunities:

National Justice Reinvestment Program – Round 1

The National Justice Reinvestment Program aims to reduce contact with the criminal justice system and incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and young people through support for place-based and community-led justice reinvestment initiatives across Australia. Find more information here. 

Justice Reinvestment in Central Australia Program – Round 1

This opportunity aims to prevent and reduce contact with the justice system for First Nations adults and young people through place-based, community-led crime prevention initiatives, measures relating to treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, or diversionary measures relating to illegal drug use. Find more information here. 

Call for submissions: Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize , The University of Sydney Law School 

Deadline for Submissions: 6 November, 2023

Sydney Law School is pleased to announce the second annual Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize.

The Essay Prize is open to students enrolled in an LLB or JD program at an Australian University.  In 2023, essays must be submitted by 6 November 2023, responding this proposition:

What policy initiative/s would best enable you to pursue a career in social justice?

For more information, see here.

Call for Submissions: UNSW Law Journal 

Deadline for Submissions: 17 November 2023 

The UNSW Law Journal is currently welcoming submissions for the thematic component of Issue 47(2). The topic for this thematic is ‘Developments in Rights, Freedoms and Accountability’. For more information, see here. 

Call for Submissions: 2024 Trauma Informed Policing and Law Enforcement Conference

Deadline for Submissions: 20 November 2023 

Police and associated justice organisations are increasingly looking at becoming trauma-informed. Some jurisdictions globally have also included trauma-informed practice in their operating protocols and a growing body of experience and evidence is being accumulated world-wide, with lessons progressively learned to guide progress in instituting and operationalising trauma-informed and shame-competent practice.

Trauma-informed practice is of significant relevance to police. Trauma and shame have a range of neurological, physiological and behaviour impacts of varying degrees of severity at different life-stages. These often result in trauma-induced states which in turn impact the person's interactions with police (and many others), either as victims, suspects or offenders.   

The conference is being hosted by the centre Deakin University Centre for Drug use, Addictive and Anti-social behaviour Research (CEDAAR) from Deakin University alongside partners Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association Inc (GLEPHA), and University of Tasmania Trauma Informed Policing. 

For more information, see here. 

Call for papers: Journal of Crime and Criminal Behaviour 

Deadline for Submission of Full Papers:  20th January 2024

Journal of Crime and Criminal Behaviour invites papers for the Forthcoming issue of the our journal ‘Journal of Crime and Criminal Behavior- ISSN: 2583-0244 - peer-reviewed journal ‘ Vol. 4  No. 1  (2024) issue of the Journal will be published in March 2024.

Manuscript Submission: Please submit your manuscript by email (put JCCB  in the subject line) in electronic form using M.S. Word by email to: Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Robert D. Hanser, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Crime & Criminal Behavior, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Strauss 216, 700 University Avenue, Monroe, LA 71209, U.S.A. E-mail: editorjccb@gmail.com

For more information, see here. 

The Nelson inquest: Relevance of the Victorian Charter to the coronial function of preventing deaths in custody; Alternative law journal

By Anita MacKay and Bruce Chen 

Abstract: The 2023 coronial inquest findings into the death of Aboriginal woman, Ms Veronica Nelson, in a Victorian prison represents a high-water mark for the relevance and application of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 to inquests into deaths in custody. The reliance on the Victorian Charter in the inquest was particularly significant because of the detailed findings and recommendations, directed at a wide variety of criminal justice system agencies, intended to prevent future deaths in custody. The outcome of the inquest clearly demonstrates that Human Rights Acts can enhance the preventive function of coroners in Australia.

Read here. 

The Speak Now project – working to end forced marriage in Australia

Forced marriage is a breach of human rights and the most reported form of modern slavery in Australia. Yet this issue remains hidden in plain sight, with the majority of those impacted not receiving support.

The Speak Now project is working towards the prevention of forced marriage through education, research, awareness-raising and community engagement. Grounded in the latest research, it is led and shaped by the voices of survivors. The project is run by Anti-Slavery Australia, which is the only specialist legal, research and policy centre in Australia working to end modern slavery, and which provides free legal support to survivors.

The Speak Now project creates resources aimed at those in community-facing professions (such as teachers, counsellors, medical professionals, police officers, etc.). This includes the Frontline Worker Guide, a resource that educates readers on what forced marriage is, how to start conversations with someone who might be at risk, and how to support them going forward. It is free and publicly available online.

Those who are worried about being pressured into an unwanted marriage – or are worried about someone else – can explore ASA’s dedicated national forced marriage service, My Blue Sky where they can learn more and receive free confidential legal advice on their situation.

The project has created other free resources, such as online courses and posters raising awareness about forced marriage, see here.

This project is funded by the Department of Social Services under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. To learn more about the Speak Now project, see here. 

Australian Institute of Criminology 

The AIC has released a new collection of 20 AIC studies produced over the last year.

This compendium brings together 20 recent studies published by the Australian Institute of Criminology. Each chapter relates to one of the Institute’s research priorities: Indigenous over-representation in the criminal justice system, transnational serious and organised crime, domestic and family violence, sexual violence, online sexual exploitation of children, and cybercrime. Together, these studies provide insight into our work on these topics.

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