Criminal justice research

COMMIT Parole – An analysis of program effectiveness in assisting offender parole completion

This analysis looked at a small cohort of offenders who have participated in the NT’s COMMIT parole program from October 2017 to October 2019. The aim of the analysis was to assess the time to order revocation for COMMIT parolees and similar parolees who did not participate in the COMMIT program.

View the research in PDF PDF (941.0 KB) or Word DOCX (445.6 KB) formats.

Reoffending while on bail – Analyses of adult and youth defendants

This analysis used information on offences and bail granted in NT criminal courts for cases created in 2019-20 to determine the probability of adult and youth defendants committing new offences while on bail or otherwise breaching bail.

View the research in PDF PDF (1.7 MB) or Word DOCX (305.7 KB) formats.

The transition from youth to adult custody in the Northern Territory

This analysis is based on data for youths who completed their last period of detention prior to turning 18 between 2015 and 2019. The analysis looked at the proportion of the cohort who were received into the adult prison system and the time between last youth detention discharge and first adult prison reception.

View the research in PDF PDF (971.4 KB) or Word DOCX (375.6 KB) formats.

Association between criminal behaviour and experience of maltreatment as a child

This research explored the association between maltreatment as a child, as indicated by the receipt of a NT court-issued child protection order, and subsequent criminal offending as a juvenile and adult.

Latest 2016 edition: View the research in PDF PDF (249.5 KB) or Word DOCX (1.3 MB) formats.

2013 version: presented at the 2013 Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, organised by the Australian Institute of Criminology, from 10-13 November 2013 in Melbourne.

View the research in PDF PDF (121.8 KB) or PowerPoint PPS (832.0 KB) formats.

Review of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

In December 2015 the Department completed a review of the Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Act 2013. The review assesses administrative data captured by the Northern Territory criminal justice system in order to examine the impact of the legislation on offending, re-offending, sentencing and justice operations in the Northern Territory.

View the research in PDF PDF (20.3 MB) or Word DOCX (4.6 MB) formats.

Recidivism in the Northern Territory: Adult prisoners released in 2001-02

The prisoner population in the NT has been increasing in recent years and a large proportion of the prison population are repeat offenders who have prior imprisonment records. This paper is intended to assist in understanding the issue of recidivism in the NT prison system.

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