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Newest publications
Fraud against the Commonwealth 2020-21  (June 2022)
Financial investigation for routine policing in Australia  (June 2022)
Young people with acquired brain injury: Preventing entrenchment in the criminal justice system  (June 2022)
Adverse childhood experiences and trauma among young people in the youth justice system  (June 2022)
Regulatory approaches to preventing organised crime among outlaw motorcycle gangs  (June 2022)
Warning messages to prevent illegal sharing of sexual images: Results of a randomised controlled experiment  (June 2022)

Latest CriminologyTV releases
Attrition of human trafficking and slavery cases in the Australian criminal justice system presented by Samantha Lyneham (June 2022)
Do violent teens become violent adults? Links between juvenile and adult domestic & family violence presented by Hayley Boxall (June 2022)


 

SPECIAL GUEST
PROF. FERGUS McNeill

Professor of Criminology and Social Work
at the University of Glasgow

03rd - 07th of October
2022

‘I have learnt much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and most from my students’ – Rabi Hanina

Barcelona, Second edition – 2022

Register now!

A new AIC study examines open-source information on the electronic service providers (ESPs) that make the largest number of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

• Most ESPs examined use technologies that scan the digital ‘fingerprint’ of images and videos to detect CSAM, although some were not clear about the technologies used.
• The technologies cited are not designed to work in an environment of end-to-end encryption, which some ESPs have already implemented or plan to implement.
• ESPs should be more consistent in their definitions of CSAM and reporting of CSAM detection methods, as these details are crucial for future best practice in reducing CSAM offending.

Read: Child sexual abuse material and end-to-end encryption on social media platforms: An overview

A new AIC study examines open-source information on the electronic service providers (ESPs) that make the largest number of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

• Most ESPs examined use technologies that scan the digital ‘fingerprint’ of images and videos to detect CSAM, although some were not clear about the technologies used.
• The technologies cited are not designed to work in an environment of end-to-end encryption, which some ESPs have already implemented or plan to implement.
• ESPs should be more consistent in their definitions of CSAM and reporting of CSAM detection methods, as these details are crucial for future best practice in reducing CSAM offending.

Read: Child sexual abuse material and end-to-end encryption on social media platforms: An overview

A new AIC study examines open-source information on the electronic service providers (ESPs) that make the largest number of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

• Most ESPs examined use technologies that scan the digital ‘fingerprint’ of images and videos to detect CSAM, although some were not clear about the technologies used.
• The technologies cited are not designed to work in an environment of end-to-end encryption, which some ESPs have already implemented or plan to implement.
• ESPs should be more consistent in their definitions of CSAM and reporting of CSAM detection methods, as these details are crucial for future best practice in reducing CSAM offending.

Read: Child sexual abuse material and end-to-end encryption on social media platforms: An overview

A new AIC study examines open-source information on the electronic service providers (ESPs) that make the largest number of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) reports to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

• Most ESPs examined use technologies that scan the digital ‘fingerprint’ of images and videos to detect CSAM, although some were not clear about the technologies used.
• The technologies cited are not designed to work in an environment of end-to-end encryption, which some ESPs have already implemented or plan to implement.
• ESPs should be more consistent in their definitions of CSAM and reporting of CSAM detection methods, as these details are crucial for future best practice in reducing CSAM offending.

Read: Child sexual abuse material and end-to-end encryption on social media platforms: An overview

Tuesday, July 19, 8 am EST (2 pm Geneva, 5:30 pm New Delhi)

Half of the world’s children experience violence every year - an issue largely overlooked by the media. There is a growing demand for, solutions-based journalism, rooted in evidence and able to build constructive responses. There is also increasing public sensitivity to the way children are treated and portrayed by the media. Together, WHO and ICFJ have produced a new media guide, developed with and for journalists, to assist reporters covering evidence-based solutions for violence against children. The guide provides tips, updated information, and fresh thinking about reporting on this issue.

Objectives of the webinar

1. To launch the WHO Guide for Journalists on Reporting on Violence Against Children
2. To share  journalists’ global experience in producing  quality stories on solutions to prevent violence against children. 

Register here

https://who.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rdO-urzIrHNVT-celCfurXerwhck_L_wD

Thursday, July 21st 2022

The UK has some of the highest levels of problem drug use and drug-related deaths in Europe, compounded by ten years of cuts to drug treatment services. In England, there has been a 27% rise in people dying while in treatment for drug and alcohol addiction during the pandemic, according to a report by the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 3,726 people died while in contact with drug and alcohol services, up from 2,929 the year before. Out of more than a quarter of a million people affected, more than half were in treatment for problems with opiates. The number of people dying in treatment for opiate addiction rose by 20% to 2,418.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2020 more people died of drug poisoning than in any year since records began in 1993, with 4,561 deaths, a 3.8% increase on 2019. NHS Digital report that deaths in England caused by drug misuse were 46% higher in 2018 than in 2008, and hospital admissions due to poisoning by drug misuse were 16% higher in 2018/19 than six years previous. They also find that hospital admissions from drug dependency, drug-related mental and behaviour disorders and misuse poisonings are 5-6 times higher in the most deprived areas.

In December 2021, the government announced a new ten-year drugs strategy aimed at overhauling the UK’s drug recovery and treatment system, with a pledge to invest a further £780m over three years to tackle problem drug use, focusing on recovery rather than prison. The government says it will provide rehabilitation for 300,000 drug users. It has also committed to investing £300m to combat county lines gangs. In April 2022, the government also announced that it would be allocating additional funding of over £300 million over the next three years to fifty local authorities in some of the most deprived areas in England in order to rebuild drug treatment services and improve drug treatment.

It has been pointed out, however, that the new investment from government does not make up for the cuts to drugs services in England that have taken place over the last decade. The BMJ also criticised the ten-year plan for the fact that it “lacks any real reform” and “does not mention drug consumption rooms or heroin assisted treatment, and the only reference to decriminalisation of drug possession is an unfounded statement that it would lead to increased drug use.”

The government’s own Review of Drugs report, published in February 2020 and led by independent expert, Dame Carol Black, provided an often highly critical assessment of systemic failures and dismal outcomes in UK drugs policy. The report highlighted the failure of punitive enforcement to stem the rising demand for and availability of drugs, and exposed an under-resourced, crumbling treatment sector that has been unable to meet growing needs and address soaring levels of drug related deaths. Other challenges include the recruitment of new staff into treatment services, a depletion of skills, and a lack of capacity to conduct effective research.

This timely symposium will therefore provide local authorities, clinical commissioners, mental health teams, employment, housing and welfare services, and criminal justice agencies, with an opportunity to engage with the government’s drug strategy, develop ideas for effective prevention, treatment and recovery, and debate wider reform to drug policy. It will also enable stakeholders to share best practice on delivering an integrated multi-agency response to drug dependency and misuse.

Programme

• Identify key changes in drug-related deaths since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and develop successful strategies to address them
• Assess the likely efficacy of the government’s new ten-year drug plan in improving recovery support services and tackling drug-related deaths
• Evaluate priorities for drug-related measures in the Health and Social Care Act 2022
• Identify successful preventative measures against drug misuse
• Discuss the successes of drug and alcohol prevention programs as a means to decrease crime, improve health, and reduce hospital admissions
• Consider the wider determinants of drug dependence and draw constructive conclusions for further action
• Examine current recovery-oriented ambitions and ways to facilitate the progress of service users towards recovery goals
• Identify how to meet the needs of vulnerable young people and communities, building resilience and minimising harm through effective safeguarding protocols
• Evaluate police methods of disrupting drug markets in the UK, and consider the merits of decriminalisation
• Share best practice on successfully raising awareness of drug related harm amongst at-risk groups
• Explore methods of improving access to housing, employment and welfare services to support sustained recoveries

To register for the briefing, please click here.
 

The ESC Working Group on Restorative Justice
is calling for nominations for the
2022 Best Academic Article on
Restorative Justice Prize

"For the 3rd year running, we will be awarding a prize for the best academic paper published on restorative justice during the ESC conference (main prize and runner up). We have decided to extend the deadline, so please take this as a formal call for more nominations (for yourself and/or others). We are looking for outstanding international peer reviewed journal articles that have been published since January 2021 and no later than 30 June 2022. We must receive your nomination by no later than Monday 1st August to be considered.
Do send your nominations to both
Kerry Clamp at Kerry.Clamp@nottingham.ac.uk and
Estelle Zinsstag at estelle.zinsstag@kuleuven.be.
A scientific committee will then read through all the nominated papers and select the most original, methodologically sound article that contributes to the advancement of restorative justice scholarship, either normatively or empirically."
 

Tuesday, July 26th 2022

UK youth unemployment for October-December 2021 was 2% higher than the G7 average of 9%. According to the latest Office for National Statistics data, unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 stood at 11.3% in December 2021–February 2022 (467,000 people), lower than the pre-pandemic level of 12.3%, but up from 11.1% in the previous quarter. The number of young people in employment remains below pre-pandemic levels (by 107,000 people, a 3% decrease), and the number of economically inactive 16–24-year-olds remains above pre-pandemic levels (by 88,000, up 3%). There has also been an increase in unemployment-related benefits claims among young people since the pandemic, with 270,900 people aged 18-24 claiming such benefits in March 2022, an increase of 36,700 claimants (or 16%) compared to March 2020. Minority communities are particularly affected. In December 2021, the unemployment rate for people from White ethnic backgrounds was 3.5%, compared to 7.7% for people from minority backgrounds. Young Black workers were hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic, with Black youth unemployment at 41.6% between October and December 2020, three times higher than among young White workers.

A November 2021 report by the House of Lords Youth Unemployment Committee, ‘Skills for every young person’, found: skills gaps and shortages in existing and emerging sectors among young people to be a damage to productivity and a clear driver of youth unemployment; a lack of apprenticeships; an undervaluing and significantly underfunding of further education; equal provision of high-quality careers education remains patchy; and, Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, those disadvantaged by socio-economic background, and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities face significant barriers to work.

During the pandemic, the government responded to rising youth unemployment by launching its £2bn Kickstart Scheme. The scheme ran between September 2020 and December 2021, helping over 100,000 young people find employment and providing employers with grants to train employees. However, this fell short of the Department for Work and Pension’s goal of helping 250,000 young adults find employment. Other initiatives included further incentives for employers to take on apprentices and trainees, expanded job support for young jobseekers, and funding for selected level 2 and 3 qualifications for school or college leavers.

The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, which became law in April, aims to tackle the skills and employment crisis. The law seeks to “transform the skills and training landscape” by emphasising apprenticeships and training programmes to equip young adults with technical skills, prioritising a green economy, and increasing the accountability of businesses and educators that receive government funding. Speaking to FE Week, however, the Chief Executive of the Learning and Work Institute, Stephen Evans, criticised the act for its failure to address the shortfall in funding needed for retraining, and underlined the need for “more public funding to reduce the £750 million real terms shortfall compared to 2010, policy reform to better support retraining and apprenticeships, and a laser-like focus on joining up support.”

There are also structural concerns about the labour market which disadvantage young people. Unpaid internships and the gig economy do not provide job security for young workers, and the value of higher education is perceived to have declined since the labour market has become saturated with graduates, many of whom are graduating with nonvocational degrees. The pandemic has exacerbated many of these issues, creating a two-year backlog of graduates and young people seeking and competing for the limited number of available jobs.

This symposium will bring together educators, employers, employee representatives, policymakers and other stakeholders to provide an invaluable discussion on the best practice for decreasing youth unemployment and empowering young people with the necessary skills and training needed to find long-term and productive employment.

Programme

• Analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment trends and the labour market relating to young people
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the Government’s response to youth unemployment during the pandemic
• Assess the objectives, potential impacts, likely successes, and possible failings of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022
• Understand the effectiveness of apprenticeship and traineeship schemes, and how they can be improved
• Assess other policy avenues to boost youth employment, create quality jobs, and minimise skills mismatches in the current labour market, with the support of employment services, employers’ organisations, and trade unions
• Discuss ways to make a smoother transition from the educational to the work environment and bridge the gaps between education providers and employers
• Discuss the importance of skills-oriented education programs, vocational training and higher education
• Tackling discrimination in the labour market and open access to employment for young people from disadvantaged, minority and SEND communities
• Consider the role and efficacy of relevant institutions in addressing youth unemployment, such as the National Careers Service, and how these institutions can be improved
• Assess the impacts of exiting the EU and its single market and the consequent loss of EU citizenship rights on employment opportunities for young British people
• Forecast the future trends in youth unemployment and the labour market in the coming years
• Develop strategies to address youth unemployment and the current issues facing young people in the labour market

To register for the briefing, please click here.

 

Thursday 28 July - 10:00 am – 12:00 pm AEST

About this event

Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is one of the most common form of homicide in Australia. In 2019-2020, a woman was murdered by their current or former male intimate partner every 11 days. Despite decades of research, every time a woman and their children are murdered, we ask ourselves ‘what could we have been done differently?’

This seminar aims to answer this question by exploring opportunities for the prevention of IPH in Australia at different stages across the offender and victim’s life-course. This includes during childhood and adolescence, once the relationship has commenced and when risk appears to escalate in the context of separation. Underpinned by their own and other’s research, each presenter will describe a key opportunity for intervention that is actionable, and the evidence supporting the intervention.

Who is this seminar for?

This seminar is targeted at policy-makers and practitioners working in the violence against women and children sector, including law enforcement and legal professionals. This seminar is also for any front-line service provider who may have contact with potential victims and perpetrators of IPH.

About the presenters

Dr Samantha Bricknell is a Research Manager at the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). She oversees the AIC’s statistical collections, including the National Homicide Monitoring Program, National Deaths in Custody Program and the forthcoming Australian Sexual Offences Statistical collection, as well as the Indigenous Justice Research Program. She holds a PhD from the Australian National University. Samantha has over 15 years of research experience in the areas of homicide, deaths in custody, human trafficking and slavery, family and domestic violence, illicit firearms and environmental crime.

Dr Li Eriksson is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University and a Member of the Griffith Criminology Institute. She is a family violence scholar whose research focuses on the development and pathways of lethal and non-lethal violent offending. She collaborates with leading national and international scholars on grants examining intimate partner femicide in Australia using interview data. Her research has been published in leading academic journals. Prior to her current role, she worked as Research Analyst with the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

Associate Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon is Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and an Associate Professor in Criminology at Monash University. Kate is a leading national and internationally recognised scholar in the field of family violence, femicide, criminal justice responses to violence against women, and the impact of criminal law reform in Australia and internationally. The findings of her research have been published in leading academic journals and books. Kate has advised on homicide law reform, family violence and youth justice reviews in several Australian and international jurisdictions. Her research has been cited by the High Court of Australia. In 2016 Kate was appointed as a member of the Victorian Government’s Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions. In 2021 she was appointed Chair of Respect Victoria by the Victorian Government.

Dr Siobhan Lawler is a Senior Research Analyst in the Violence against Women and Children Research Program at the AIC. Siobhan holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Sydney. Prior to joining the AIC, Siobhan held research positions at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (UNSW) and the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use (University of Sydney). Her research areas of interest include violence prevention, alcohol and other drugs, sentencing and restorative justice.

Laura Doherty is a Research Analyst in the Violence against Women and Children Research Program at the AIC. She was a co-investigator on the Pathways to Intimate Partner Homicide Project, and has contributed to research on homicide, deaths in custody, drug use in Australia and sexual violence. Laura has also contributed to the AIC’s Statistical Collections, including the National Homicide Monitoring Program and the National Deaths in Custody Program.

Dr Hayley Boxall (Facilitator) is the Manager for the Violence against Women and Children (VAW&C) Research Program at the AIC. Since joining the Institute over 10 years ago, she has published extensively on domestic and family violence (DFV), and has been the primary investigator on a number of projects aimed at improving criminal justice responses to DFV and victim/survivors and understanding pathways/trajectories into DFV offending and intimate partner homicide. Hayley is a member of various government advisory groups on DFV and regularly provides training on various DFV-related topics to policy and practitioner audiences.

Tags

• Online Events
• Online Seminars
• Online Other Seminars
• #domesticabuse
• #homicide
• #violence_prevention
• #violence_against_women

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Australian Institute of Criminology

Organizer of Preventing intimate partner homicide in Australia

The Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. We seek to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.

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