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Justice Access Research Alert No. 90
July 2021
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Access to Justice

See also Homelessness
Secondary consultation: A tool for sharing information and transferring knowledge in health justice partnership
R Rajan, M Carlow, S Forell, M Nagy, Health Justice Australia
June 2021

DISCUSSION PAPER | This discussion paper from Health Justice Australia explores in more detail what secondary consultation is, how services are using it, the benefits and challenges for practitioners and their patients and clients along with how to capture relevant data and measure its impact. Insights from Health Justice Australia are based on a review of existing literature, the health justice census data, informal discussions and a workshop with practitioners, and a survey of the health justice partnership practitioner network that Health Justice Australia conducted in October 2020.

Children and Young People

See also Indigenous AustraliansYouth Justice
Child protection Australia 2019–20
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Canberra (AIHW)
May 2021


STATISTICS | This report from AIHW presents statistics on state and territory child protection and family support services, and selected characteristics of children receiving these services. This includes statistics for 2019–20, and trends over the 5-year period from 2015–16 to 2019–20. AIHW found that during this period, 174,700 children received child protection services (investigation, care and protection order and/or were in out-of-home care). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were 8 times as likely as non-Indigenous children to have received child protection services. Children from geographically remote areas were more likely to be the subject of a substantiation, or be in out-of-home care than those from major cities. Over 5,300 children were reunified with family during 2019–20.
Income support receipt for young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC)
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
June 2021


REPORT | This national report from AIHW aims to build the evidence-base on transition outcomes for young people transitioning from OOHC by bringing together Australian Government (Centrelink) and state and territory OOHC administrative data to examine receipt of income support and other payments by these young people. AIHW note the type of financial assistance a person receives often reflects their life circumstances at the time of receipt. It can indicate, for example, those who require support while pursuing higher education, those looking for work or unable to work due to disability or caring responsibilities, or those experiencing personal crises such as family violence or contact with the justice system. AIHW hope these insights can be used to inform better policy, practice and support services for their transition out of care and into independence.

COVID-19

See also Domestic and Family Violence

Criminal Justice System

Crime & Justice Research 2021
M Phelan, Australian Institute of Criminology
May 2021


RESEARCH COMPENDIUM | This research compendium from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) brings together 21 recent studies published by the AIC. The first five chapters outline ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced crime. The editor states that although COVID-19 was not a formal research priority for the AIC, it has shaped much of the Institute’s recent work. The remaining chapters reflect the Institute’s research priorities. The topics addressed include violence against women and children, transnational serious and organised crime, illicit drugs and youth crime.

Domestic and Family Violence 

Coercive control in domestic relationships
Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control, Parliament of New South Wales
June 2021


REPORT | This report from Parliament of NSW’s Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control found that NSW laws do not respond well to coercive control as a type of abuse, and there is poor understanding of it in our community. The inquiry looked at ways to better respond to the phenomenon of coercive control. The report notes the committee’s recommendations on changes to make it clear that coercive control is a form of domestic abuse, including: a clear and accessible definition of domestic violence, including coercive and controlling behaviour; higher maximum penalties for breaching apprehended domestic violence orders; removing specific intent from the stalking and intimidation offence; and making coercive and controlling behaviour an aggravating factor in sentencing. The report notes that the inquiry heard inconsistent domestic violence laws and poor coordination between states can be an extra barrier for victims of domestic abuse who live in border areas. The committee has recommended that the NSW Government works with other states to develop a nationally consistent definition of domestic violence, and to set up a national database of domestic violence orders.
 
Domestic violence in NSW in the wake of COVID-19: Update to December 2020
K Freeman and F Leung, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
June 2021


REPORT | This report from BOCSAR examines trends in domestic violence in New South Wales,  between April and December 2020 following the implementation of the COVID-19 social restrictions. The authors examine multiple indicators for domestic violence, including recorded criminal incidents, non-criminal domestic episodes recorded by police and calls to a specialist state-wide telephone crisis, counselling and referral service. It follows on from previous reports examining indicators of domestic violence in the early stage of the pandemic, presenting additional analyses and examining data over a longer period. BOCSAR found no compelling evidence of an increase in domestic violence related assault coinciding with the social isolation requirements between April and December 2020. The authors note that there may, however, have been unobserved increases in domestic violence among some communities and cohorts of people that cannot be detected with the administrative data that is available.  The authors did find evidence for an increase in non-criminal domestic conflict from the commencement of COVID-19 restrictions continuing into the middle of 2020. The report concludes that there needs to be ongoing monitoring of a range of indicators of domestic violence.
 
How does domestic violence escalate over time?
H Boxall and S Lawler, Australian Institute of Criminology
May 2021


LITERATURE REVIEW | This review from AIC investigated Australian and international literature exploring escalation within current and former abusive intimate relationships. The authors state the aim was to identify what escalation means, how escalation has been measured and if escalation is the ‘norm’ in abusive intimate relationships. In literature reviewed, escalation was defined as either a pattern of increasingly frequent and/or severe violent incidents, or the occurrence of specific violent acts (ie outcomes). The authors noted that escalation appears to be limited to serious or prolific offenders rather than characterising all abusive relationships. However, disparities in prevalence estimates between those provided by victim–survivors and recorded incident data highlight the difficulty of measuring this aspect of abusive relationships.
 
Health justice partnership as a response to domestic and family violence
S Forell and M Nagy, Health Justice Australia
May 2021


REPORT | This report by Health Justice Australia (HJA) describes health justice partnership as an integrated response to DFV: what partnerships currently look like, where they are found, who they support, and what they offer partner agencies, practitioners and their clients. HJA note that there is more to test and learn about the placement, design and value of health justice partnerships in different health service settings; and how they integrate with the broader DFV service landscape. The authors note that as service delivery is reassessed in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, there is an opportunity to explore health justice partnership as a tool to provide accessible, safe, client-centred and holistic support for those experiencing DFV.
 
Interventions for perpetrators of domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia
Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS)
June 2021


SYNTHESIS REPORT | This paper synthesises the findings of 20 ANROWS research reports, published between October 2018 and June 2020, on the topic of domestic, family and sexual violence perpetrator interventions. The majority of these studies were funded by the Australian government Department of Social Services (DSS), through the Perpetrator Interventions Research Stream, to build an evidence base that could support the implementation of the National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Interventions. ANROWS’s research explores how human services agencies (particularly mental health, alcohol and other drugs, and child protection services) could be recognised as essential parts of broader perpetrator intervention systems. ANROWS conclude that human services agencies could play a pivotal role in linking men into behaviour change interventions, and could work together with the legal system and men’s family violence interventions to by monitoring  perpetrators’ risk over time, sharing information and working collaboratively to manage risk.

Homelessness

Policing Public Space: The experiences of people sleeping rough
Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Homelessness NSW
May 2021


REPORT | This joint report from PIAC and Homelessness NSW examines the experiences of people sleeping rough and their interactions with police in Sydney. The report is based on structured interviews with people sleeping rough (n = 27) and service providers to better understand how police powers impact on the lives of people experiencing primary homelessness. Those interviewed in this qualitative study provides examples in which they felt, unjustly and excessively targeted by police. The report outlines a number of recommendations to improve the circumstances of people sleeping rough. In brief, the authors argue that appropriate use of police discretion can support vulnerable people by reducing the impact of ‘law enforcement’ interventions on their lives, which are often complex and marked by trauma. Assertive outreach programs are an important model to re‑engage people with long and complex histories of rough sleeping.

Indigenous Australians

Understanding the decline in Aboriginal young people in custody in NSW from 2015 to 2019
N Donnelly, S Ramsey, S Poynton & J Fitzgerald, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
May 2021


STATISTICAL REPORT | This statistical report from BOCSAR analyses a recent decline in Aboriginal  young people in custody in NSW over a five-year period from 2015 to 2019. Whilst  Aboriginal young people remain significantly overrepresented in custody across Australia (in the June quarter of 2019 the incarceration rate for Aboriginal young people (aged between 10 and 17 years) in New South Wales (NSW) was 20 times higher than the rate for non-Aboriginal young people, this report investigates some recent improvements. Between 2015 and 2019, the average daily number of Aboriginal young people in custody declined from 161 to 121. The number of Aboriginal young people aged 10-17 years proceeded against to court by the police declined from 3,685 in 2015 to 3,324 in 2019. While there was an increase in the proportion of young Aboriginal people refused bail by police (from 34% to 41%) the percentage refused by the court remained stable (21%). While there was an increase in breach of bail established against Aboriginal young people from 845 to 1,082, the percentage of bail revocations declined from 38 per cent to 23 per cent. There was a decline in the number and proportion of young Aboriginal young people aged 10-18 years sentenced to a control order in the Children’s Court or a higher court. This was due to fewer being convicted in court, dropping from 2,896 to 2,198, and a fall in the percentage receiving a control order from 14 per cent to 10 per cent. Among non-Aboriginal young people aged 10-18 years the number of convictions and the percentage receiving a control order remained stable In brief,  this report concludes that two key findings contributed to the downward trend of Aboriginal young people in custody: a reduction in the number of Aboriginal young people charged by police and appearing in court, and a decline in Aboriginal young people sentenced to a custodial order.

Recidivism

Vocational training in NSW prisons: Exploring the relationship between traineeships and recidivism
E J. Ooi, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
May 2021


RESEARCH | The aim of this research from BOCSAR was to explore the relationship between traineeship participation by prisoners and recidivism. BOCSAR compared the recidivism of trainees with ex-inmates who were eligible for a traineeship but who did not participate. BOCSAR found overall, across a wide range of outcomes, that participating in a traineeship is associated with significant reductions in recidivism, particularly for property crime. The main results indicate that, on average, prisoners who participate in a traineeship while incarcerated are 2.9% less likely to be re-convicted of any new offence, 5.7% less likely to commit a personal, property or serious drug offence, and 5.1% less likely to commit a new property offence within 12 months of release from prison compared with similar offenders who satisfy the program eligibility criteria, but who never commenced a traineeship (n = 985). The author of this report cautions however these results should be interpreted as an associative (rather than causal) relationship between traineeship participation and recidivism because it is not possible to rule out certain confounding factors such as an individual’s  willingness to engage in a 12-month program or physical capability, or program-specific factors, such as reduced availability of traineeships at certain locations.

Sentencing

See also Youth Justice

Statistics

See also Children and young people, Indigenous Australians
New South Wales Recorded Crime Statistics. Quarterly Update: March 2021
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR)
June 2021


STATISTICS | BOCSAR has released their Quarterly Update on crime reported to, or detected by, the NSW Police Force to March 2021. BOCSAR extracted the data from the Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) of the NSW Police Force. The report includes an overview of trends in the most recent two-year period for major offence categories, firstly for NSW and then across NSW regions broken down to the Local Government Area level. At the State level, for the latest 24 months, two major offence categories have been trending upwards: domestic violence related assault (up 1.1%) and sexual assault (up 14.4%) and ten of the 17 major offence categories were trending downwards: robbery without a weapon (down 21.9%), robbery with a firearm (down 35.2%), break and enter dwelling (down by 27.1%), break and enter non-dwelling (down by 32.6%), motor vehicle theft (down 16.3%), steal from motor vehicle (down 29.1%), steal from retail store (down 29.0%), steal from dwelling (down 13.8%), steal from person (down by 45.2%) and fraud (down 17.9%).

Women

See also Domestic and Family Violence

Youth Justice

See also Children and young peopleIndigenous Australians
Sentencing for child homicide offences: Assessing public opinion using a focus group approach
L Hidderley, M Manning, E Marchetti and A Edwards, Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
June 2021


RESEARCH REPORT | This study from AIC aimed to explore community views on the issue of sentencing for child homicide offences using a focus group methodology. Participants (n=103) were recruited by a market research company from a mix of urban and rural locations in Queensland. After completing a series of questionnaires, participants were assigned a ‘punitiveness score’ and assessed the seriousness of three separate child homicide vignettes. AIC found that participants viewed the sentences as inadequate and not sufficiently reflective of the vulnerability and defencelessness of the child. AIC note these findings contributed to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council’s recommendations to the Attorney-General and have since led to legislative change.
Youth justice in Australia: 2019–20
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
May 2021


REPORT | This report for AIHW looks at young people who were under youth justice supervision in Australia during 2019–20 because of their involvement or alleged involvement in crime. The report explores the key aspects of supervision, both in the community and in detention, as well as recent trends. This report includes some data from the COVID-19 period, specifically between March and June 2020. AIHW found that about 1 in 607 young people aged 10–17 were under supervision on an average day; more than 4 in 5 (or 84%) of young people under supervision on an average day were supervised in the community, and about 1 in 6 (or 16%) were in detention; the majority of young people who were in detention were unsentenced; young people spend an average of 6 months under supervision; rates of supervision vary between states and territories; young people in remote areas were more likely to be under supervision; young people from lower socioeconomic areas were more likely to be under supervision; and Indigenous Australians were younger than non-Indigenous Australians when they entered supervision.

About this newsletter

JARA is a free email alert service covering recent research in the area of access to justice and legal need. JARA entries are publications identified by Foundation staff rather than the product of a systematic search or review. Foundation staff have produced the summaries based on the original publications. The summaries do not necessarily reflect the views of the authors or the Law and Justice Foundation. Your feedback is important to us. If you have any comments or suggestions please email us at publications@lawfoundation.net.au
© Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 2021.
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