Funded Research
Crime, Governance and the Colonial State: A Study of the Criminal Tribes Act 1871
Chief Investigator: Dr Mark Brown
The aim in this research is to examine the way colonial strategies for the governance of difficult, marginalised or 'suspect' populations were conceived, justified and implemented by British government in India. The primary objective is to produce a criminological account of the development and implementation of the Criminal Tribes Act 1871, covering the period between 1857, when Britain assumed control of India from the East India Company, and 1911, when the Act was subject to its first major revision. The study will advance criminological knowledge and understanding of the criminalisation process, the genealogy of contemporary crime control measures, the uses of crime in the governance of marginalised populations or communities as well as processes of colonial governance more generally.
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
Never Again? The Nature and Effectiveness of Australian Regulatory Responses to Terrorism. The Esso Longford Explosion and the Collapse of HIH Insurance
Chief Investigators: Assoc Prof Fiona Haines & Assoc Prof Adam Sutton
Research Assistant: Chris Platania-Phung
Invitation for NSW major hazard facilities
Industrial disasters, terrorist attacks and corporate collapses create increased demands by Australians for safety and financial security. This project will trace the effects of three such event clusters - the 1998 explosion and fire at the Longford Victoria gas facility, terrorist attacks on New York (2001) and Bali (2002) and the 2001 collapse of HIH insurance - on regulatory frameworks and compliance efforts by our airports, ports and major hazard facilities. It will ascertain whether regulatory reform following disasters does increase protection for Australians, or whether multiple and competing demands mean that significant gaps are created.
The project aims to assess the role of regulation in both reducing risk and addressing diverse risk concerns by evaluating the nature of regulatory reform and the viability of regulatory strategies, in an atmosphere of heightened public and political sensitivity to risk; by fleshing out how organizations deal with multiple regulatory demands and enforcement styles and by ascertaining the strengths and weaknesses of regulation in realising sustainable and balanced approaches to risk.
Research design for all stages are guided by regulatory character (see Haines, 2005) an analytic device to explore interactions between local norms, legislative and regulatory demands.
Stages 1 and 2
The project begins by examining how three catastrophic events (Longford, HIH and 9/11) are accounted for, and translated into regulatory regimes. Primary methodologies include investigation of public materials and interviews with key government regulators affected in each area (major hazards, financial/corporate governance and security).
Stage 3
The objective is to understand the implications of the reforms and regulatory practices for critical infrastructure sites, in terms of what managers do on a day-to-day basis, and business productivity. In particular it examines the challenges posed by the need for managers in industry to work with diverse regulatory regimes and enforcement styles. Interviews were conducted with major hazard sites, airports and seaports in 2006 and 2007.
Stage 4
Currently a survey study is taking place with the objectives to a) see whether experiences of regulated sites interviewed in stage 3 occurred more broadly, and b) to compare relationships between regulation and organisational context across the different jurisdictions and industries. Participation involves a confidential internet questionnaire.
All stages of this project have received clearance by the Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number 050 601)
Outcomes:
- Provide royal commissioners, and other inquiry leaders, politicians, policymakers, regulators with information about the impact of their recommendations and policies on regulatory reform and compliance;
- Provide an empirical base on the cumulative effects of reform measures following diverse disasters and how these frameworks work on a day-to-day basis when they compete with other critical regulatory demands
- Through grounded research give practical insights into the effectiveness of co-regulation for aggregating and combining risks so that compliance can be maximised.
For outputs specifically arising from this research see Fiona Haines.
For managers and officers interested in participation, please contact Chris Platania-Phung (cpphung@unimelb.edu.au; tel: 03 8344 3484).
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
A cancer on our economy? An empirical interdisciplinary study of the criminalisation of serious cartel conduct in Australia
Chief Investigators: Dr CY Beaton-Wells; Dr CE Parker; Dr FS Haines; Prof DK Round
The University of Melbourne Serious cartel conduct is seen as highly damaging to Australia's economic welfare but only recently has it been regarded as criminal. This research will inform public debate about the impetus and justification for this major shift in competition law policy and enforcement. It will provide robust empirical evidence about public opinion and business behaviour and derive insights into whether criminalisation will promote greater compliance with the law. It will assist in refining practical implementation measures to ensure the effectiveness of a criminal regime and it will aid legislators and regulators in policy-making, regulatory design and enforcement in relation to competition law and business regulation more generally.
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
Beyond the Pale: Sovereignty, Law and Indigenous Peoples
Chief Investigator: Dr. Julie Evans
The study brings the cognate disciplines of Law and History into productive relation. It seeks to extend understandings of the colonial and the territorial dimensions of sovereignty by identifying and examining the multiple roles of law in racialising Indigenous peoples and subjecting them to force otherwise condemned in law. In radically re-conceptualising frontier practices in settler colonies, the study also challenges the historiography's national preoccupations by placing the colonial experiences of Indigenous peoples within a broader legal and historical continuum. The project is of immediate relevance to settler societies where questions of sovereignty remain unresolved.
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
Characteristics and Causes of Indigenous Over-Representation in the Criminal Justice System: A Victorian Case Study
Chief Investigator: Dr Stuart Ross; Partner Investigators: Colin McLachlan & Benjamin Mante
This research is a joint venture between the Indigenous Issues Unit and the Centre for Criminological Research Evaluation at the University of Melbourne. This strategic partnership aims at strengthening evidence-based practice across the whole spectrum of agencies and departments that participate in the implementation of AJA including Victoria Police, Corrections Victoria, and Department of Human Services (DHS).
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
Procedural Justice for Victims of Crime
Chief Investigators: Dr Stuart Ross, Jeanette Lawrence, Assoc Prof Adam Sutton, Assoc Prof Austin Lovegrove; Partner Investigator: Robyn Holden
The goal of the research is to assist justice and crime victims services agencies to understand their role in relation to crime victims and to develop more effective and responsive ways to meet this important social and justice challenge. The research will contribute to a better understanding how traditional legal and justice processes can be made consistent with victims' needs for procedural fairness and equity of outcomes. The project will establish a strong theoretical and policy framework for a principled, fair and responsive justice system that is informed by the diverse interests of its constituents and consumers. This research has the support of Victims Support Australasia and in-principle agreement from four member services.
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant
Post-Release Support for Women Prisoners: Processes of Psychological and Social Transition
Chief Investigators: Dr Stuart Ross & Mark Brown; Partner Investigator: Andrea Lott
The consequences of post-release failure by women are well-documented and include greatly elevated risks of injury and death, mainly from drug overdose, and high rates of re-offending, parole breach and return to custody. All of these consequences involve significant social and financial costs to the community in the form of increased health, community and correctional service demand. This research will provide valuable insights into the social and personal processes involved in making the transition from prison to the community. The research outcomes will include demonstrating whether and under what circumstances mentoring works for women prisoners, and identifying the kinds of material and social supports required by women releasees.
Australian Research Council Linkage-Project Grant
Urban Images and the Appearance of City Spaces
Chief Investigators: Prof Alison Young
This project will constitute the first study of street art as a new genre of cultural practice in city spaces. Street art is becoming an increasingly important issue for social policy and for youth culture. With many advocating a punitive approach to street art, the stakes for young people are high, risking criminalization in carrying out their art practices. The project will examine the emergence of street art and has significant strategic value in its capacity to inform balanced policy development and to improve understanding of the effects of and motivations behind street art.
Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant