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Research Projects
Current Projects
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Current Projects
How women have transformed the criminal justice system: a modern history
Chief Investigator: Dr Judy Putt
Funding: Safety Taskforce, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
The project involves research on how women have changed criminal justice since the 1970s. There is a whole generation of women who have been actively engaged - as academics, advocates and practitioners - in reforms of the criminal justice system over the past 40 years in Australia. Since the first women’s refuge opened in 1974 in Sydney, there have been significant institutional innovations and changes to both the law and process that have sought to improve the way we deal with female offenders and victims of crime. The impact, although often not explicitly recognised, on how the criminal justice system works and on how we think about crime and offending has been transformative and widespread. Based primarily on the recollections of those involved, the research will result in a book with at least eight proposed chapters: on the refuge, the crisis centre, the law, the process, the prison, acknowledging difference, a global perspective and a conclusion on what has been achieved.
Bridging the Gap between Police and Refugee Communities
Chief Investigator: Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron
Funding: University of Tasmania
This project is a follow up on a research run by TILES two years ago. This study raised some issues relating to Police-Refugee relations. While the report of the research provides a valuable framework for agencies to start acting in enabling better relations with refugees and vice-versa, it does not present stakeholders with examples, tools or ideas to start doing so. The researcher, in this current project, follows stakeholders in the implementation of a Police-Refugee program in New South Wales, with the purpose of documenting actions and tools, in order to make them available to other interested parties throughout Australia.
* Research Project Brief 304 KB pdf
Evaluation of the Cross Border Justice Scheme
Research team: Dr Judy Putt (University of Tasmania), Professor Rick Sarre (University of South Australia) Dr Emma Rowden (University of Western Sydney), Ms Gillian Shaw (Bowchung Consulting).
Funding: Governments of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Project summary: Operational since late 2009 and underpinned by consistent legislation in South Australia, Northern Territory, and Western Australia, the main aim of the Cross Border Justice Scheme is to minimize the effects of state/territory borders on law enforcement and justice services in the cross-border region of central Australia. The legislation enables the exercise of relevant powers by police and other office holders and allows court decisions and proceedings to apply in the cross-jurisdictional region, where offences occur and individuals reside in the region.
The research team has been funded to undertake an evaluation of the Scheme. The evaluation’s objectives are to:
• determine the extent to which the CBJS has been implemented and operated as intended
• determine the strengths and weaknesses of the CBJS
• identify the extent to which the strategic objectives of the CBJS have been achieved
• examine the impact of the CBJS on police, courts, service providers, and the community within each jurisdiction
• determine the level of satisfaction with the CBJS from the perspective of the key justice agencies and community groups.
A mixed methodology is being used in the evaluation, including surveys, fieldwork, interviews and the analysis of administrative data.
The Tasmanian Early Intervention Pilot Program (TEIPP): helping reduce alcohol misuse among young australians
Chief Investigator: Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron
Funding: Tasmania Police
the specific aims of the TEIPP evaluation are as follows:
- determine the ongoing need in Tasmania for an early intervention approach for young people under the age of 18 years in relation to alcohol;
- determine the effectiveness of the TEIPP in relation to the extent it impacted on changes in attitudes, use and behaviours surrounding the consumption of alcohol by young people under the age of 18years; and
- provide recommendations to the Tasmanian Government and initiative stakeholders in relation to the continuation of the TEIPP at the completion of the commonwealth-funded EIPP (DPEM Early Intervention Policy Framework, 2010).
TEIPP Evaluation Report Sept 2012 pdf 1.96MB
Introducing Restorative Conferencing: a whole of community, early intervention approach to youth anti-social behaviour
Chief Investigator: Dr Isabelle Bartkowiak-Théron
Funding: Proceeds of Crime Funding (via Albury Youth & Family Services - YES)
The purpose of this project is to independently evaluate the Introducing Restorative Conferencing: a whole of community, early intervention approach to youth anti-social behaviour project in Albury (NSW), an initiative run by Albury Youth & Family Services (YES).
The aims of the evaluation are as follows:
- To track the initial stages of the scheme (bedding-in)
- To evaluate the process of implementing the scheme, including provision of training & rapport building with all stakeholders (schools, community agencies, young people, community, families, victims, etc)
- To observe 5 randomly selected restorative conferences (once the scheme is up and going) and assess their effectiveness against identified objectives, and from all parties’ perspectives (wrongdoers, victims, families or significant others, agencies and facilitators)
- To measure the overall impact of the scheme and the extent to which it meets its objectives (qualitatively and quantitatively)
- To document the scheme in order to identify the emergence of a possible flexible model, able to be transferred to other situations, cultures and areas throughout Australia and possibly internationally
- To disseminate research results so that areas in Australia interested in this model may refer to it as a stepping stone or inspiration for their own projects.
Project Reports
IRC Final Evaluation Report Nov 2012 pdf 1.81MB
IRC First Interim Evaluation Report
August 2011 pdf 1MB
IRC Second Interim Evaluation Report
Final April 2012 pdf 1MB
IRC Discussion Paper Final December 2011 pdf 792KB
Police Commissioners 'Tales from the Field'
Chief Investigator: Professor Jenny Fleming
Funding: Public Administration Trust Fund
Longitudinal Review of the Risk Assessment Screening Tool (RAST)
(Confidential Report - not available)
Chief Investigators: Mr Ron Mason and Associate Professor Roberta Julian
Funding: Department of Police and Emergency Management (DPEM)
As part of the overall response to family violence, Tasmania Police utilise a Risk Assessment Screening Tool (RAST) to assess the risk of a victim experiencing future violence. In 2005 TILES was commissioned to conduct a review of the RAST. The RAST has been in use for approximately three years and Tasmania Police have identified the need for an analysis of the RAST. The project will be divided into two parts: validation and a longitudinal analysis.
Policing Issues and Crime - Analysis of Tasmanian Data
Chief Investigators: Professor Jenny Fleming and Associate Professor Roberta Julian
Funding: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
The research will comprise statistical analysis of a dataset containing Tasmania Police data currently held by the AIC. |
