Event: Thirty years after Fitzgerald: The unfinished business of Queensland’s sex work policy

Posted by Brigid on 13 August, 2019

In July the CJSDRC launched the first of its briefing papers, The Case for Decriminalisation: Sex Work and the Law in QLD’.

This month the paper will be re-launched at Queensland State Parliament,by Centre Director Melissa Bull, at an event sponsored by Peter Russo, State Member for Toohey. If you are interested in reading and hearing more about decriminalisation, join the Respect Inc and #DecrimQLD in Brisbane Parliament House for a solutions-focused Symposium on the unfinished business of the Fitzgerald Inquiry Report. The Fitzgerald Report recommended significant changes to prevent the continued misuse of police powers. Thirty years later sex work remains in the Criminal Code. At this Symposium you will have the opportunity to hear the concerns and solutions from experts in the field of sex work policy. More about the event can be found below.

Thirty years after Fitzgerald: The unfinished business of Queensland’s sex work policy
Sex industry policy in Queensland remains unfinished business. Thirty years after the 1989 Fitzgerald Inquiry found excessive levels of police corruption and misuse of powers over the sex industry, 80% of sex workers in Queensland are still subject to police regulation and monitoring.

In response to the Fitzgerald Inquiry, the Prostitution Act 1999 (Qld) introduced a brothel licensing system but left the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) intact. The 1999 legislation criminalises sex workers working in pairs and massage parlours, and regulates only 20 brothels. Standard practices such as hiring a receptionist, texting another worker when a client arrives and leaves, are illegal. Police powers include immunity when posing as clients undercover. Police now actively prosecute sex workers for implementing safety strategies, with charges up by 126%, and for incorrect wording in sex work advertising, with charges up 450%. The ‘criminals’ are predominantly women over 30; they are fined up to $6,000. Access to justice is impeded. The unintended consequence of the lack of action on this issue is that basic safety strategies are criminalised. Everyday, sex workers in Queensland must choose between working safely or legally.

The evidence is that decriminalisation is the best model of sex industry regulation. It is a system that would bring all sex industry businesses under Queensland’s existing robust business and industrial regulation. Repealing outdated laws would finish the work of Fitzgerald and provide safer working conditions for sex workers, free from fear of arrest.
This symposium is sponsored by Peter Russo MP, State Member for Toohey.

Photo ID and a ticket are essential for Parliament House events.

Janelle Fawkes

Student Event: QUT Justice Society and UQ Criminology and Criminal Justice Society Ball

Posted by Brigid on 8 August, 2019

On behalf of the QUT Justice Society and UQ Criminology and Criminal Justice Society, we’re proud to announce our biggest event ever,

Arabian Nights: Justice and Criminology Ball 2019.

WHO: The event is open to all students of both universities.

WHEN: Friday 20th September

TIME: 6.30 – 11.30pm.

WHERE: Cloudland, Fortitude Valley.

COST: QUTJS Member Tickets are $95 + booking fee. The non-member tickets are $105 + booking fee. You can get your tickets through this link:

https://justiceball-event.getqpay.com.

FOOD AND DRINK: Cold and hot canapes and a 4 hour drinks package.

You can stay updated on our following social media platforms:

EMAIL: qutjusticesociety@gmail.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/qutjusticesociety/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/qutjusticesociety/

EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/619333171891626/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to message us through our Facebook page or send us an email.

Welcome – Inspector Garry Henkel – Visiting Police Associate

Posted by Brigid on 6 August, 2019

The School of Justice in the Faculty of Law at Queensland University of Technology would like to welcome Inspector Garry Henkel, who joins the School as a Visiting Police Associate in the university.

Inspector Henkel has been a member of the Queensland Police Service for over 33 years. During this time he has performed roles at various country and metropolitan locations including, general duties, criminal investigations, prosecutions, strategic policy, ministerial liaison, and as the inaugural Police Representative on the Parole Board, Queensland.

Inspector Henkel holds a Bachelor of Education (QUT) and a Graduate Diploma Leadership and Management and is currently enrolled in a Juris Doctor (USQ). Inspector Henkel is also a commissioned officer in the Australian Army (Reserve) holding the rank of Major.

Inspector Henkel’s role at QUT will provide staff with enhanced opportunities to liaise with the QPS for police-related research, whilst also offering students real-world insight and knowledge about policing practices and issues.

Building healthy masculinities

Posted by Brigid on 30 July, 2019

Dr Michael Flood speaking at the “Thinking Outside the Man Box” forum, Wodonga, June 27

Efforts to address the harmful impacts of narrow, rigid models of masculinity are gaining momentum in Australia. In a series of presentations and workshops to practitioner and community audiences in country Victoria, Associate Professor Michael Flood explored the workings of modern masculinity in Australia, its links to domestic and family violence and other issues, and ways to build healthier lives for men and those around them. He contributed to events in East Gippsland (Bairnsdale), Traralgon, Dandenong, Shepparton, and Wodonga, in a whirlwind trip in late June. A range of community organisations and councils are putting energy into considering men and masculinities, and Dr Flood’s tour involved collaborations with organisations including Gippsland Women’s Health, Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE), Women’s Health Goulburn North East (WHGNE), and the Wodonga City Council.

Dr Flood also spoke at a ‘Woke Blokes’ panel at the Splendour in the Grass Music Festival, an event on getting men engaged in workplace gender initiatives organised by the Equal Employment Opportunity Network (EEON) in Melbourne, and on ‘Why Gender Equality is Good For Everyone’ at a Federation University event in Berwick, Victoria.

Flood also is contributing to developing work on men, masculinities, and gender being undertaken by other major Australian organisations. VicHealth, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, is developing a Healthy Masculinities Framework to guide work in the state, supported by a scoping review. Our Watch, the national violence prevention organisation, is developing materials to inform, support and shape the work of Our Watch and other stakeholders working on prevention campaigns, policy and practice. Associate Professor Michael Flood is providing expert advice to both organisations on their work.

Panel: Violence in Africa – towards a Southern Criminology

Posted by Brigid on 30 July, 2019

CJSDRC Member, Professor John Scott was invited to La Trobe University, Department of Social Inquiry on 22 July to head a panel on ŒViolence and Africa: Towards a Southern Criminology¹,

This symposium focused on the on a range of problems relating to violence and Africa, including the African diaspora. While it explored issues of violence in Africa, it also explored the neo-colonial violence against Africa, and the way in which accounts of Africa are often framed with reference to narratives of violence. These issues extend to the African diaspora and ideas of migration that become intertwined with accounts of violence, while violence against refugees and migrants is often erased.
Through these issues, the question of structural violence and its centrality to the articulation of a Southern Criminology that challenges existing global power relations and systems of knowledge is made central in critically rewriting accounts of the Œdark continent¹.

Presenters
John Scott: Towards a Southern Criminology

Anthony Collins: These violent delights have violent ends: the righteous killing of Mlungisi Nxumalo and the interpretation of South Africa violence.

Ndumiso Daluxolo Ngidi: The Geography of Crime and Violence: Exploring Queerphobic Crime and Violence in Two Southern African Countries

Simóne Plüg: Violence in Campus Protests: Exploring intergenerational trauma and the escalation of conflicts.

Crispin Hemson: Young South African men confronting violence Akuch Kuol Anyieth: Masculinity and the Negotiation of Domestic Violence in the Melbourne¹s South Sudanese Australian community

Kim Lah: The Congo, an ŒExemplary¹ Australian, and the Massacre of Civilians in Kilwa: A Case Study of Capitalism, Structural Violence, and the Banality of Evil.

Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 5th Biennial Conference 2019

Posted by Brigid on 23 July, 2019

The Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 5th Biennial International Conference was held at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast from 15-17 July 2019. The conference was officially opened by Tony McAvoy, Australia’s 1st indigenous Senior Counsel and QUT Alumnus of the Year 2018. A Welcome to Country was performed by Mr Luther Cora, Bungarre Family of the Yugumbah Language Group of the Bundjalun nation in the Gold Coast/Tweed area.

Around 150 people attended the conference, with representation from 13 different countries. The program content ran over 31 sessions and showcased new and interesting ideas from diverse global perspectives including Asia, South America, Africa and Australia. Our keynote presentation was from Professor Meda Chesney-Lind, from University of Hawaii. Meda gave an interesting and engaging presentation on Feminist Criminology, Repression and Resistance: The Global South Responds to Rightwing Movements in the Global North.” We also welcomed Professor Setsuo Miyazawa as our guest and President of Asian Criminological Society.

We enjoyed Welcome Drinks around the pool at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Gold Coast (pictured) and we held an informal conference dinner that introduced our international guests to the great Australian cultural experience of dining in a surf club – set on the shores of the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

If you would like to share any photographs please send these to brigid.xavier@qut.edu.au or keep adding your photos and comments to our Twitter handle #CrimQUT19.

Overall the conference was a great success, providing a special opportunity to enhance the dialogue between criminology researchers and practitioners from all over the world. An official survey will be sent out to you shortly. We value any feedback you would like to give.

Domestic violence and technology: Findings and future pathways

Posted by Molly on 24 June, 2019

Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz and Dr Bridget Harris will present findings from the ACCAN funded study Domestic violence and communication technology: Victim experiences of intrusion, surveillance, and identity theft. This free public seminar will present key findings from the report on survivor experiences of technology-facilitated coercive control.

26 June, 2019
4:00 pm-5:30 pm
Room P419, Level 4, P Block, Gardens Point Campus

Download the report and infographics here

Information about the research team, future presentations, and publications is here.

Position Vacant: Lecturer, School of Justice, Faculty of Law

Posted by Brigid on 20 June, 2019

The School of Justice, Faculty of Law is recruiting for an ongoing full time Lecturer to contribute to real world research and teaching being undertaken in the School.

Further information about the position can be found here: https://qut.nga.net.au/?jati=6D314F87-1547-71C6-6C9D-AD5D84CD5413

Applications close 15 September 2019.