Mirko Bagaric
Dean of Swinburne Law School
29 May 2023
Submission To The Inquiry Into Tasmanian Adult Imprisonment And Youth Detention Matters
Dear Committee Members, Inquiry into Tasmanian Adult Imprisonment and Youth Detention Matters I am writing this letter regarding the current inquiry into Tasmanian adult imprisonment and youth detention matters. I note the Committee was given the following Terms of Reference: To inquire into and report upon Tasmanian corrective services and justice system matters related to adult imprisonment and youth detention
10 March 2023
Let Them Work: How Criminal Justice Reform Can Help Address Australia’s Worker Shortage
Australia is experiencing both an incarceration crisis and an unprecedented worker shortage. Sensible criminal justice reform can address the excessive burden on Australia’s prison system while also filling persistent job vacancies in the economy. The total cost to the Australian taxpayer of imprisoning roughly 42,000 prisoners is now nearly $4.5 billion annually. Over-incarceration imposes an additional cost on Australians by
10 March 2023
Australia’s Incarceration Crisis Is Worker Shortage Solution
“As Australia faces simultaneous incarceration and worker shortage crises, many low-risk non-violent offenders could be gainfully employed in the community right now without risk,” said Professor Mirko Bagaric, Dean of the Swinburne University of Technology Law School. Today, the Institute of Public Affairs released a new research report, Let Them Work: How Criminal Justice Reform Can Help Address Australia’s Worker
8 February 2023
Time To Rebalance The Scales Of Justice
The death of Veronica Nelson in custody has finally convinced the state government to address the appalling rise in Victorian prison numbers, and, encouragingly, the state opposition agrees criminal justice reforms are necessary. Key to these reforms is a review of bail eligibility. The number of unsentenced prisoners, like Veronica Nelson, has more than doubled over the past decade. The
11 November 2022
Make Them Pay: Proposed Sentencing Reforms For Fraud Offences
Download the research report for the full analysis.
11 November 2022
Urgent Action Needed To Fix Australia’s Emerging Incarceration Crisis
“Australia’s sentencing policies are causing mass-incarceration, imposing significant social and economic costs on the community, and not delivering the justice outcomes we deserve,” said Professor Mirko Bagaric, the Dean of Law at the Swinburne University of Technology Law School. Today, the Institute of Public Affairs released a new research report, Australia’s Emerging Incarceration Crisis: Proposed Reforms of the Australian Sentencing
11 November 2022
Australia’s Emerging Incarceration Crisis: Proposed Reforms Of The Australian Sentencing System
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has taken a lead role in providing empirically-grounded reform proposals for the criminal justice system, with a strong focus on reducing incarceration numbers. The report released in 2017, titled Australia’s Criminal Justice Costs: An International Comparison noted that ‘despite spending more than most countries [on prisons] and more and more each year, our results
