Evaluation of the Victorian Community Crime Prevention Program: final report

This evaluation finds that the Community Crime Prevention Program is a highly valued contribution to the Victorian community crime prevention and community safety field. Abstract The Community Crime Prevention Program (CCPP), established by the Victorian Government, aims to enhance communities’ capacity to deliver local solutions to crime. It is part of a broader suite of initiatives to reduce the impact of criminal behaviour on Victorians. The Community Crime Prevention Unit (CCPU) is a business unit within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to administer the CCPP. The mainstay of the CCPP is a competitive grants program available to a wide variety of community organisations and local government authorities. Bodies that comply with the qualifying criteria are able to apply for funding in the allocated funding rounds. DOJ commissioned the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) to conduct an evaluation of the Victorian CCPP. In order to assess the strategic appropriateness and efficacy of the CCPP the AIC, in consultation with the CCPU and the Regional Directors forum that operates across the DOJ, developed a program logic model and evaluation framework. This informed the development of a comprehensive methodology combining qualitative and quantitative research methods. This included: consultation with key stakeholders; online survey of local government and community organisations; review of CCPP-sponsored interventions; and analysis of administrative data and program documentation relating to the operation of the CCPP. The project was undertaken between February and September 2014

Understanding the local government role in crime prevention

This research offers one of the first detailed insights into the valuable contribution made by local government within the multi-layered crime prevention strategies and initiatives which keep Australian communities safe. Foreword In Australia, crime prevention is primarily the responsibility of state and territory governments. What is less well understood is the significant role of local government in developing and delivering crime prevention at the community level, although councils have long been involved in helping to create safer communities. This research offers one of the first detailed insights into the valuable contribution made by local government within the multi-layered crime prevention strategies and initiatives which keep Australian communities safe. The Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee of the Parliament of Victoria carried out this research as part of an investigation into locally-based approaches to community safety and crime prevention in 2011. The results of a comprehensive survey of the crime prevention activities of local government authorities across Victoria are examined. This study reveals the issues local government prioritises, the responses they deploy and the challenges that they face, such as gaps in capacity and the need to manage complex relationships between participants who work on local community safety. Findings reveal a system that, while highly variable in sophistication and reach, provides an important platform for improving local community safety. The study also identifies important gaps and opportunities to improve collaboration between government and the private and NGO sectors

Risk and resilience:Crime and violence prevention in Aboriginal communities

Developmental prevention involves the manipulation of multiple risk and protective factors early in developmental pathways that lead to offending, often at transition points between life phases. The emphasis is not just on individuals but also their social contexts. Risk and protective factors for crime and violence in Aboriginal communities include such standard factors as child abuse, school failure and supportive family environments, but additional factors arise from unique aspects of Aboriginal history, culture and social structure. This paper draws on existing literature, interviews with urban Aboriginal community workers, and data from the Sibling Study to delineate those interrelated risk factors (forced removals, dependence, institutionalised racism, cultural features and substance use) and the equally interrelated protective factors (cultural resilience, personal controls and family control measures). These are 'meta factors' that provide a lens through which the standard lists can be interpreted, and are a starting point for the understanding of indigenous developmental pathways.Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Criminology and Criminal JusticeFull Tex

Master of Science

thesisThis research introduces a new process to fabricate polymer nanocomposite materials reinforced with an ultra-high weight fraction of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This process is based on ultrasound directed self-assembly, which employs the force associated with a standing ultrasound wave to concentrate and align the carbon nanotubes in a user-specified pattern. In contrast with existing processes, which typically limit fabricating nanocomposite materials with a CNT weight fraction on the order of 1 weight percent (wt.%), polymer nanocomposite materials were fabricated to contain a weight fraction of aligned CNTs in excess of 10 wt. %. The fabrication process, dispersion of CNTs in the polymer matrix, appropriate acoustic wave propagation velocity in the matrix material, and degradation of polymer mechanical properties from exposure to ultrasound stimulation are described. The mechanical properties of these polymer nanocomposite specimens were experimentally measured and it was found that the ultrasound alignment process resulted in specimens that displayed a significant increase in ultimate tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and moduli of resilience and toughness, compared to specimens including polymer nanocomposite materials with randomly oriented CNTs, and “processed polymerâ€. The research demonstrates that by combining ultrasound alignment with microwave radiation exposure, the Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength of the polymer nanocomposite material is further enhanced. Specimens were affected differently by microwave radiation exposure, depending on the type of alignment and dispersion used to create the specimen. These observations may guide further optimization of the process

School completion: what we learn from different measures of family background

This paper quantifies the impact of different dimensions of socioeconomic disadvantage on Year 12 completion by employing a comparative analysis of one data set that has been used extensively to study this issue – the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) – with another less used data set in this area, the Youth in Focus (YIF) survey. This survey provides an additional set of disadvantage measures that may be related to school completion, including family income and welfare receipt history, and provides an opportunity to obtain a better understanding of differences in school completion

Convergence or Divergence of Values? A Comparison Case Study of Teacher Credentialing Programs

Educational commentators have long debated whether or not public school teaching is a profession. The definition of a profession is commonly anchored in Andrew Abbott\u27s criteria, which include knowledge (specialized and academic), jurisdiction (diagnosis, treatment, professional inference), and control (ethics, professional organizations, licensure). Teachers in most states need to complete credentialing programs to be licensed. The purpose of this study was to explore what teacher credentialing programs at three diverse universities are doing to build teaching as a profession. The guiding research questions were: (1) What is the relationship between teacher credentialing programs and the professionalization of teaching? (2) What types of knowledge, skills, and dispositions are teacher credentialing programs instructing candidate teachers and do they promote the professionalization of teaching? (3) What are the factors that support or challenge the professionalization of teacher candidates in contemporary teacher credentialing programs? (4) In what ways are teacher credentialing programs convergent or divergent in the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are perceived necessary for the preparation of teacher candidates? Methods used in this study included interviews with teacher credentialing program faculty members and a document analysis of university published materials. The research findings show that the three universities converge in their values but diverge in the language they use to describe those values. Credentialing programs provide licenses and formal schooling but lack established cultural norms; this compromises teaching as a profession. Additionally, there is a divergence of values and knowledge between the credentialing programs and school districts where teachers go to teach. Finally, at all three universities there is an absence of training teachers to conduct research to further the empirical knowledge of education as a profession. Based on Abbott\u27s criteria, the findings suggest teaching is a semi-profession in growth. If teaching is to become a recognized profession, credentialing programs will need to establish cultural norms. Teachers will need to conduct research that informs practice in the classroom and contribute to education\u27s body of knowledge. Future research includes studying how effective traditional and non-traditional credentialing programs are in advancing teaching as a profession how they compare to each other

Managing alcohol and drugs in event and venue settings: The australian case

© 2014 Cognizant Comm. Corp. One of the major challenges of operating events and venues is that of managing attendee/patron alcohol and drug use. In the Australian context, a rising number of alcohol and drug-related incidents in and around these settings have resulted in a renewed focus on how these negative outcomes can be more effectively controlled. In order to aid those charged with the task of addressing this matter- event and venue managers, police, security firms, alcohol and drug regulatory bodies, and governments at all levels-this article seeks to identify those variables with the potential to impact this management issue. Further, it aims to provide the previously identified stakeholders with a deeper appreciation of the raft of practices that are currently in use, and potentially available to them, as they build responses to this challenge at the individual state, precinct, venue, or event level. The research approach used involved an extensive literature review and a series of in-depth interviews with key stakeholders across three states-New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia

Does Orally-Administered Radiocontrast Impair Ultrasound Image Quality in Pediatric Patients?

Introduction: It is commonly assumed that orally-administered radiocontrast material (ORC) preceding abdominal ultrasound (US) performance can obscure image quality and potentially impair diagnostic accuracy when assessing patients with abdominal pain. Due to this concern, ORC administration per protocol for computed tomography (CT) is often delayed until after US performance, potentially contributing to prolonged length of stay in the emergency department (ED) in patients with concern for abdominal pathology. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether early administration of ORC in children with abdominal pain receiving abdominal CT for possible appendicitis obscures subsequent abdominal US image quality.Methods: We designed a prospective observational study of children <18 years of age presenting to a pediatric ED with abdominal pain who were set to receive ORC prior to obtaining an abdominal CT. These patients received a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the abdomen to assess the abdominal aorta and right lower quadrant (RLQ) structures (psoas muscle and iliac vessels) pre- and post- ORC administration. Images were compared independently by two blinded emergency US-certified physician-assessors for quality, specifically to determine whether ORC obscured the anatomical structures in question.Results: A total of 17 subjects were enrolled, and each subject had two POCUS studies of the abdomen, one pre- and one post-ORC administration looking to visualize the anatomy of the RLQ and abdominal aorta in both studies. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in mean values of POCUS image quality scoring by two blinded US-trained physician-assessors for either RLQ structures or abdominal aorta when performed pre- and post-administration of ORC.Conclusion: Early ORC administration in children with abdominal pain does not adversely affect image quality of a subsequently performed abdominal US. Patients who may require abdominal CT to determine the etiology of abdominal pain can receive early administration of ORC prior to US performance to help minimize ED length of stay without impairing US diagnostic accuracy

The Impact of Place-Based Services on Child Maltreatment: Evaluation Through Big Data Linkage and Analytics

There is a clear evidence that place is one factor associated with rates of child maltreatment and that rates of child abuse differ between different neighbourhoods and communities. Although there are few place-based initiatives (PBIs) focused specifically on child maltreatment, there is an increasing policy and research interest on PBIs that address a range of problems for children and families in disadvantaged communities. Evaluating the effectiveness of these initiatives is extremely challenging, both methodologically and ethically, but one potential way forward is to use linked administrative data to track outcomes of children and families. This chapter discusses the opportunities and challenges for the use of administrative data linkage in the evaluation of PBIs. The chapter is informed by interviews with 12 Australian experts on the use of ‘big data’ in public policy

The negative effects of alcohol establishment size and proximity on the frequency of violent and disorder crime across block groups of Victoria, British Columbia

© 2018 by the authors. Multiple studies have associated the density of alcohol establishments with crime. What is not well understood is the influence of establishment patron capacity on the magnitude of crime in an area, or how the spacing of liquor primary establishments impacts crime levels. Using a Poisson spatial lag model, we estimated how patron capacity of on-premises licenses and the total number of off-premises licenses were associated with the frequency of violent and disorder crime occurring on Friday and Saturday nights in Victoria, British Columbia. To identify how the distance between bars and pubs was associated with the frequency of crime within 200 m of each establishment, we applied bivariate curve fitting and change detection techniques. Our model explained 76% percent of the variance in crime frequencies. Bars and pubs within block groups, and in neighboring block groups, had a significant positive association (p < 0.05) with the frequency of crime compared to other on-premises licenses (e.g., restaurants, theatres, clubs, hotels), and off-premises liquor stores. For every additional 1111 bar or pub patron seats the crime frequency per block group is expected to double over a 17 month period (factor of 1.0009 per patron seat). Crime frequency significantly dropped (p < 0.05) around (200 m) bars and pubs that are spaced greater than 300 m apart. Our results provide the first evidenced-based information for evaluating the size and spacing of on-premises licenses in Canada