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Makkai, Toni --- "Rising drug crime prompts study of alternative justice programs" [1999] AUFPPlatypus 4; (1999) 62 Platypus: Journal of the Australian Federal Police, Article 4

Rising drug crime prompts study of alternative justice programs

Australia's first trial of the drug court system started in Parramatta, west of Sydney on February 8, amid heightened interest in how they operate and their potential value to the Australian community.

Heroin addicts guilty of non-violent crimes such as minor drug dealing or theft will be eligible to appear before the drug court, which is based on the American drug court system.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdrey QC, said the new court would be able to adopt a more direct and personal role in managing individual offenders.

"The hope is to break the tragic cycle of addiction, which means we reduce criminal behaviour by addicts, trying to get money to feed their habit," he said.

"That will cut down on house-breaking, muggings and armed hold-ups."

A recent paper by Australian Institute of Criminology Research Analyst Toni Makkai looks at drug courts in the USA, and whether establishing similar courts in Australia could offer an effective alternative to the current system for dealing with drug-related crime.

The report claims that if Australia is to find success with the program, there needs to be an understanding of how the process works in the USA, what the evaluations have shown and the potential problems if such a program were established in Australia.

While drug courts in the USA have shown that up to 85 per cent of addicts complete the program and recidivism has been reduced by up to 80 per cent, Ms Makkai suggests no two drug courts operate in the same way, and that transplanting policy from one country to another does not necessarily produce the same results.

AIC Director Dr Adam Graycar said that "any pilot projects in Australia will need to be adapted to local conditions and must be rigorously and objectively evaluated".

He also said most of the Australian studies relate to drug offences, yet many other offences have a drug-related genesis.

"The existing judicial process does not appear to offer long-term solutions to drug-related crime."

Dr Graycar concluded from the study that drug courts:

• Have had successes, but will not produce a success every time and careful judgements need to be made about acceptable failure rates.

• Are focused on treatment, rehabilitation and reduced recidivism.

• Are more intrusive for offenders than a conviction or short sentence.

• Are more expensive than traditional courts although could be much cheaper when also taking into account jail and potential re-offending costs.

• Face implementation challenges in integrating criminal justice and treatment agencies, cooperative arrangements between judge, prosecutor and defence, and achieving objectives broader than those of the criminal justice system.

View Ms Makkai's research paper