The Community Hopes, Fears and Actions Survey: Survey method, sample representativeness and data quality

This paper describes and discusses the method used to collect data on the hopes, fears and actions of Australians in relation to the tax system in 2000. Data were collected from June through to October 2000 by means of a national survey of Australians who were randomly selected from the publicly available electoral rolls. A response rate of 29% yielded 2040 questionnaires that could be used for further analysis. Diagnostic statistics comparing the sample with Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates on age, sex, occupation and education suggested that the sample was broadly representative of the population, but with some bias in favour of those involved in occupations in which reading and writing skills are integral. The survey also underrepresented younger age groups, a bias that is shared with many other social surveys of this kind. A number of regression models were run to find out if responses were affected by anonymity, time taken to respond to the survey and the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) during the survey period. No evidence was forthcoming to suggest a direct relationship between any of these variables and tax-related attitudes and behaviours. We conclude that these data provide a satisfactory base for examining the relationships outlined and discussed in the Centre for Tax System Integrity Working Papers No. 2 and No. 3 (Braithwaite, 2001; Braithwaite, Reinhart, Mearns & Graham, 2001)

Preliminary findings from ‘The what’s fair and what’s unfair survey about justice issues in the Australian tax context’

Between November 2002 and March 2003, researchers at the Centre for Tax System Integrity conducted a national tax survey of 4000 Australian taxpayers. Responses were obtained from a representative sample of 965 taxpayers. Specific issues of interest to the survey researchers were Australian taxpayers’ perceptions of fairness and justice in the area of tax, the fairness of penalties and law enforcement processes, the emotions involved in such justice sentiments; and perceptions of tax evaders and alleged rule-breakers such as tax scheme investors. This report discusses the methodology of the survey process, a descriptive analysis of some of the more important findings from the survey, and a codebook that details the frequencies, means and standard deviations to each question of the survey

Public perceptions of, and responses to, desalination in Australia : a report on findings

Desalination as a method of ensuring a rainfall independent source of potable water has become an increasingly favourable option for Australian governments, particularly over the last decade or so. This is especially true for metropolitan areas. The social acceptability of new sources of water, however, impacts on the readiness with which publics accept changed or augmented water supplies. Researchers at Deakin University, Victoria University and Murdoch University, with funding from the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA), have conducted a study of public attitudes to desalination in Australia. This report outlines the results of the 18 month project, which comprises three sections. The cornerstone of the project is a national survey (n=3077), conducted by Datacol Research. The second component of the study consists of focus groups in the vicinity of three existing or developing desalination plants: Wonthaggi (Victoria), Port Stanvac (South Australia), and Kwinana (Western Australia). The third component of the study presented in this report involves interviews with desalination scientists and other technical experts, in relation to their attitudes to communication with lay publics

Twelve experiments in restorative justice: the Jerry Lee program of randomized trials of restorative justice conferences

We conducted and measured outcomes from the Jerry Lee Program of 12 randomized trials over two decades in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK), testing an identical method of restorative justice taught by the same trainers to hundreds of police officers and others who delivered it to 2231 offenders and 1179 victims in 1995–2004. The article provides a review of the scientific progress and policy effects of the program, as described in 75 publications and papers arising from it, including previously unpublished results of our ongoing analyses

Twelve experiments in restorative justice: the Jerry Lee program of randomized trials of restorative justice conferences

Objectives: We conducted and measured outcomes from the Jerry Lee Program of 12 randomized trials over two decades in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK), testing an identical method of restorative justice taught by the same trainers to hundreds of police officers and others who delivered it to 2231 offenders and 1179 victims in 1995–2004. The article provides a review of the scientific progress and policy effects of the program, as described in 75 publications and papers arising from it, including previously unpublished results of our ongoing analyses. Methods: After random assignment in four Australian tests diverting criminal or juvenile cases from prosecution to restorative justice conferences (RJCs), and eight UK tests of supplementing criminal or juvenile proceedings with RJCs, we followed intention-to-treat group differences between offenders for up to 18 years, and for victims up to 10 years. Results: We distil and modify prior research reports into 18 updated evidence-based conclusions about the effects of RJCs on both victims and offenders. Initial reductions in repeat offending among offenders assigned to RJCs (compared to controls) were found in 10 of our 12 tests. Nine of the ten successes were for crimes with personal victims who participated in the RJCs, with clear benefits in both short- and long-term measures, including less prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Moderator effects across and within experiments showed that RJCs work best for the most frequent and serious offenders for repeat offending outcomes, with other clear moderator effects for poly-drug use and offense seriousness. Conclusions: RJ conferences organized and led (most often) by specially-trained police produced substantial short-term, and some long-term, benefits for both crime victims and their offenders, across a range of offense types and stages of the criminal justice processes on two continents, but with important moderator effects. These conclusions are made possible by testing a new kind of justice on a programmatic basis that would allow prospective meta-analysis, rather than doing one experiment at a time. This finding provides evidence that funding agencies could get far more evidence for the same cost from programs of identical, but multiple, RCTs of the identical innovative methods, rather than funding one RCT at a time