Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses in Australia (From Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses, P 1-13, 2000, Australian Institute of Criminology -- See NCJ-188298)

• NCJ Number: 188301
• Author(s): Emma Ogilvie
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Paper from the conference, "Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses," organized by the Australian Institute of Criminology, December 7-8, 2000, in Sydney. Downloaded May 14, 2001

Annotation

This paper examines current stalking legislation in Australia, as well as police and court stalking-related data.

Abstract

All Australian jurisdictions currently have stalking legislation; however, the legislation differs across the States. Compared to other nations, Australia's legislation focuses on the extreme examples of stalking behavior and relies predominantly on subjective understandings of offenders' intent to cause harm to the victim. This study accessed data on police and court practices in charging, clearing, and prosecuting stalking through the police and court statistical records of the various jurisdictions. Data across jurisdictions cannot be readily compared due to different data-collection mechanisms and different definitions of stalking. This impediment gives rise to different attempts at legislative and policing resolution for stalking as variously defined across jurisdictions. This study suggests the need to clarify the definition of stalking, the need to conduct nationally comparable research on stalking, and the need to expand the range of available responses to stalking. Tabular data are provided on police and court records of stalking in each Australian jurisdiction for the years 1993 through 1999. 5 tables and 50 references