Welcome – QUT School of Justice – Dr Alissa Macoun

Posted by Brigid on 21 January, 2020

We welcome Dr Alissa Macoun as a Lecturer in the School of Justice, Faculty of Law.

Alissa is interested in the politics of race and contemporary colonialism. Alissa’s work in Australian Indigenous politics and policy explores ways race is used to legitimise colonial approaches, institutions and regimes. She is interested in policy logics, political structures, academic and social knowledge production practices, as well as the connections between these processes. Her work draws on scholarship from public policy, political theory, settler colonial studies, sociology, critical race and critical Indigenous studies.

Alissa was a Lecturer at the School of Political Science and International Studies at University of Queensland from 2015-2019. Although non-Indigenous, she was a Research Fellow for the Australian Research Council’s National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) based at QUT from 2013 – 2015.

Alissa has a PhD (Political Studies) and BA (Honours, first class) from the University of Queensland. Her PhD thesis explored the political justification of the Commonwealth’s 2007 Intervention in Northern Territory Indigenous communities and won the 2013 APSA PhD Prize.

We have three new staff who have commenced with QUT School of Justice in 2020 and we will be profiling each of them this week. Keep an eye out!

Beware of bushfire scams – Dr Cassandra Cross

Posted by Brigid on 17 January, 2020

The recent Australian bushfires are presenting the latest opportunity for fraud.

QUT C4J member, Dr Cassandra Cross, has written an article for The Conversation about how this fraud can happen, how you can safely donate and how you can think long term about protecting yourself from fraud.

Cass researches on various aspects of fraud including the policing, prevention and support for online fraud, including romance fraud and cybercrime. In 2011, she was awarded the Donald Mackay Churchill Fellowship, which enabled her to travel to the UK, USA and Canada to examine how these jurisdictions respond to online fraud.

In 2013, Cass was awarded a Criminology Research Grant (CRG) to undertake the first Australian study examining the reporting and support needs of online fraud victims. In 2015, she was awarded a second CRG to examine the process of identity restoration for victims of identity theft, in partnership with iDcare. In 2016, she was awarded a third CRG to examine the policing of cybercrime in Australia.

In 2019 Cass was appointed Senior Research Fellow to the Cybersecurity CRC, delivering industry-led cyber security research outcomes.

The article is well worth a read – read here

Fulbright Scholar Award – Associate Professor Kelly Richards

Posted by Brigid on 17 January, 2020

Our heartfelt congratulations to Associate Professor Kelly Richards on her recent Fulbright Scholar Award for 2020.

Kelly will use her Fulbright Scholar Award to further her research on victim/survivors of sexual violence and Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) at California State University-Fresno and the University of Vermont.

Kelly’s research focuses primarily on sexual offending against children, and especially on the reintegration of those who perpetrate sexual violence. In 2010 Kelly was awarded the ACT Government Office for Women Audrey Fagan Churchill Fellowship to investigate CoSA around the globe. Kelly is a member of a wide range of professional and community organisations in the fields of criminology and sexual violence. She is a Member of the Queensland Government’s Child Death Case Review Panels, the Queensland representative on the After Prison Network, a Committee Member of the Queensland chapter of Restorative Practices International, a member of the Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors’ Support Centre Research and Reference Group, and a member of the Bravehearts Foundation Expert Research Advisory Panel, among others.

Workshop: Youth and Peace in the Indo-Pacific: Policy, Practice, Action

Posted by Brigid on 17 December, 2019

Public Panel – 27 November Workshop day 2

Helen Berents – Workshop Welcome

On the 28th and 29th of November, QUT Centre for Justice hosted a workshop funded by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA), ‘Youth and Peace in the Indo-Pacific: Policy, Practice, Action’.

The workshop was co-convened by School of Justice Senior Lecturer, Dr Helen Berents, along with Dr Caitlin Mollica (Griffith University) and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia Professor Jacqui True (Monash University).

On Wednesday 27, November there was a public evening panel event including Dr Helen Berents, on ‘Agents of Change: What Can Youth Offer Peace and Security?’ held at the Ship Inn, Southbank.

The workshop on the 28th and 29th brought together invited academics, advocates, and civil society representatives from across Australia to consider how policy responses and scholarship can better engage with the peace and security challenges facing young people in the Indo-Pacific region.

Over half the world’s population is under 30 years old; and almost half of the world’s youth live in the Indo-Pacific. Young people in the region face multiple, intersecting challenges including the impact of conflict and insecurity, economic insecurity, and growing environmental risks. Yet they are often marginalised or excluded from the institutions tasked with implementing peace and security. This workshop aimed to facilitate a critical policy dialogue, which examines post-conflict practices that have sought to meaningfully engage with the experiences of youth in the region.

The workshop drew on the established work and leadership of feminist scholars and practitioners, which has brought about gender inclusive policy making, and encouraged the development of similar practices for those individuals aged between 18-29 years old. In doing so, it contributed critical scholarship that considers the contributions of youth participation to the creation of more inclusive and holistic peace practices; and Australia’s role in the development of youth mainstreaming policies and practices in conflict-affected contexts.

Further information about the workshop can be found here.

Bridget Harris: ANZSOC New Scholar Prize 2019

Posted by Brigid on 12 December, 2019

Congratulations to QUT C4J member, Dr Bridget Harris, on her recent award of ANZSOC New Scholar Prize for 2019. The New Scholar Prize is given each year for the best publication in criminology (or a related area) written by a member of the Society who qualifies as an early career researcher.

The article, co-authored with Delanie Woodlock , was published in British Journal of Criminology and is titled, “Digital Coercive Control: Insights From Two Landmark Domestic Violence Studies”. The authors present their recent studies on harmful and invasive behaviours enacted through technology. Bridget applies her research focus of domestic and family violence (DFV) and spatiality, and the unique ‘spaceless’ features of technology-facilitated DFV.

The full article is available through open access and can be found here.

Congratulations to Bridget on a very successful year pioneering and further developing research into this very important area, both in Australia and internationally. A well deserved award.

International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy – Volume 8 Issue 4 2019

Posted by Brigid on 2 December, 2019

A new issue of International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy is now available. This final issue for 2019 features a variety of topics and authors from Mexico, US, Australia, Turkey, Zimbabwe and Thailand.

Included in the issue is a mixed-methods study examining how criminologists in Australia and New Zealand have employed social media to engage in public criminology. Mark Wood, Imogen Richards, Mary Iliadis and Michael McDermott (from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University, Australia) note that social media has and continues to change the terrain for researchers facilitating new forms of news making within the discipline of criminology. Women’s prison reform is explored in North-Eastern Thailand with an application to international human rights standards. With one of the highest incarceration rates of women in the world, practitioners from Mahidol University, Thailand discuss the implementation of ‘Bangkok Rules’ finding that despite extensive reforms areas for improvement remain.

Policing and organised crime are the topics of four articles: The Colombian National Police and the Politics of Crime Control Evaluations, Kenneth Sebastian León; Community Policing and Crime Prevention: Evaluating the Role of Traditional Leaders under Chief Madliwa in Nkayi District, Zimbabwe, Whitehead Zikhali; Police Officers’ Fear of Crime: An Analysis of Interviews with Officers in Trinidad and Tobago, Lee Michael Johnson, Danielle Watson and Nathan Pino, and; Local Elections and Organised Crime: The Case of Michoacán, Mexico, Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, Hugo Amador Herrera Torres.

Another highlight of the issue is Sandra Walklate and Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s examination of coercive control within the legal context. Intimate partner violence has long been seen through the lens of coercive control and the authors suggest that the criminalisation of coercive control only serves to fail those it is intended to protect.

Any enquiries regarding the Journal should be forwarded to Tracy Creagh, Journal Manager – crimjournal@qut.edu.au

Centre for Justice DECRA success 2020

Posted by Brigid on 22 November, 2019

Congratulations to Centre for Justice members, Dr Bridget Harris and Dr Helen Berents who have both been awarded a DECRA to commence in 2020. This is an outstanding result, not just for QUT and for the Faculty but for both of these exceptional researchers.

The DECRA success rate for 2020 was 16% nationwide. Across Australia just only 21 grants were allocated to the FoR code 16 (Studies in Human Society). These were the only HASS DECRAs awarded to QUT this year which again speaks to the calibre and standing of the researchers and their projects.

Bridget’s project is titled: Building State responses to technology-facilitated domestic violence
This project aims to investigate one of Australia’s most pressing social problems: domestic violence and the emerging use of digital technology to enact and escalate abuse and stalking. Technology-facilitated domestic violence threatens psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing and safety (and signifies risk of homicide), and so warrants attention. Justice systems have a crucial role to play in preventing technology-facilitated violence and safeguarding and empowering victim/survivors. This timely project seeks to assess existing State responses to and regulation of such harms. It expects to provide an evidence base to enhance and develop innovative policing and judicial policy and practice, with benefits to communities and economies.

Helen’s project is titled: Youth Leadership and the Future of Peace and Security
This project aims to investigate the roles youth play in building inclusive and durable peace at local and international levels. It advances one of the first detailed studies of youth-led peacebuilding in three post-conflict contexts in order to generate new insights into best practice for including youth in peace and security policies. Expected outcomes contribute to growing global recognition of youth peace advocacy by providing richer understandings of how to support and empower youth in conflict-affected contexts. The project seeks to strengthen Australia’s leadership in peacebuilding initiatives and enhance policy efforts towards regional and global security and prosperity.

Congratulations Helen and Bridget.

Crime and Justice Briefing Paper Series

Posted by Brigid on 6 September, 2019

We welcome Dr Laura Vitis as the new co-editor of the Crime and Justice Briefing Paper Series, replacing Dr Monique Mann who is leaving QUT. Laura joins our current co-editor, Associate Professor Michael Flood.

The Crime and Justice Briefing Paper Series provide short, accessible accounts of topics and issues related to crime and justice. This open access publication features research undertaken by staff, students and affiliated researchers for the QUT School of Justice (formerly Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Research Centre), and are blind peer reviewed.

Our first Briefing Paper was released in July and is titled, “The Case for Decriminalisation: Sex Work and the Law in Queensland”. A copy of the Briefing Paper can be found here.

We welcome Laura to this new role.

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