Since 2016 a key area of the IPA’s research has been the Australian criminal justice system and ensuring that it is achieving the best outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
Australia’s imprisonment rate has increased sharply in the last four decades and governments are spending increasingly large amounts of taxpayer funds on maintaining their overburdened prison systems.
The IPA has been researching and developing policy solutions to address the emerging mass incarceration crisis in Australia. It has found that across the country 38 per cent of prisoners have been incarcerated for non-violent offences. Whilst prisons are necessary to isolate violent criminals who pose a threat to community safety, the IPA has found that low-risk, non-violent offenders should be punished in other ways.
Today, the IPA has released Smart Justice: Lessons from the United States to address Australia’s emerging incarceration crisis, a monograph explaining our analysis of successful criminal justice reform for non-violent offenders in the United States and how this reform could be adopted in Australia.
In Smart Justice, we explain that implementing alternative sentencing options for non-violent offenders can be challenging, particularly against the public misconception that any alternative to prison is ‘soft’. However, by drawing on the United States as a successful model for criminal justice reform, Australian policymakers could bring a halt to surging incarceration rates and improve safety for the wider community.
In order to be tough on crime, our leaders need to get smart on crime.
You can now Download Smart Justice – Lessons From The United States To Address Australia’s Emerging Incarceration Crisis here.
