Abstract: This article examines Australian legal responses to filicide in circumstances where mothers have killed their young children. We consider the potential legal defences that may be raised where postnatal depression (‘PND’) and other psychiatric disorders are present in cases of filicide: insanity/mental impairment, diminished responsibility/ substantial impairment by abnormality of mind, and infanticide.

This bulletin uses propensity score matching to compare reoffending rates between adults given a community service order (CSO) and those given bonds (both supervised and unsupervised) or a suspended sentence (both supervised and unsupervised).

In this research brief the sentencing of Indigenous women in Australia is examined. Quantitative and qualitative data on sentencing patterns and practices are presented in relation to Indigenous women in Australia, although the limitations of these data should be acknowledged. Some examples of non-custodial and custodial sentencing options for Indigenous women in Australia are discussed...

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2008: 5) has defined consumer scams as a fraudulent invitation, request, notification or offer, designed to obtain someone’s personal information or money or otherwise obtain a financial benefit by deceptive means.

A review of the recent Australian data indicates an increase in the use of knives for homicide offences, while their use decreased or remained steady in relation to robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping/ abduction. The limited academic research on this issue reveals two discrete groups—young people who carry knives and generally ‘grow out of it’...