A Short History of Crime Prevention in Australia

Abstract

Crime prevention work in Australia is notable for significant innovation and achievement in a number of important areas. However, the ability to consolidate these successes has been hampered by a number of structural factors, including continuing fragmentation between the state/territory level and the national bodies; a lack of strong national leadership and a shared vision for crime prevention goals; frequent changes in direction and strategic priorities across all levels of government; short-term arrangements that shift from "project" to "program" level; a lack of cohesion and coordination between key agencies (particularly police); and the absence of an adequate evidence base to support the dominant strategic approach - the community-based crime prevention model. This article discusses each of these issues from the perspective of managing crime prevention work at the various levels of Australian government and offers some thoughts on possible future directions and methods for overcoming existing shortcomings. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the increasing commitment to the use of "whole of government" models for developing and implementing crime prevention work, the emergence of the "urban renewal" model as a framework for broadening and strengthening the community-based crime prevention approach, the changing role of police in crime prevention, and the importance of building adequate evidence bases to support crime prevention practice.