Rick Sarre

Reducing the Risk of Corporate Irresponsibility: The Trend to Corporate Social Responsibility

What can be done to control and minimise the risk of corporate irresponsibility? This question has been raised anew in Australia with the collapse in May 2001 of the nations second largest general insurer HIH leaving a A

The growth of privatized policing: Some cross-national data and comparisons

4 billion (US

Protective Security in Australia: Scandal, Media Images and Reform

2 billion) shortfall. The official regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), claimed a lack of resources contributed to its neglect. The auditors claimed that they had been given incorrect information. The government suggested tightening the law and enforcing more rigorously its criminal sanctions. The problem, however, lies with the misconception that such fiascos can be avoided by governments creating and enforcing appropriate rules. This is simply not the case. For while legislation and regulatory mechanisms that seek to enforce organisational rules and policies are necessary, they are simply not sufficient to establish and entrench corporate accountability and responsibility. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how corporate entities can and should develop a ‘culture’ of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to reduce the risks associated with irresponsible practices. CSR principles and initiatives can be delivered and enticed by a broad range of facilitators, including governments, industries and regulatory bodies. They can also be used for the purpose of enhancing the broader notion of corporate governance. The authors illustrate the manner in which CSR initiatives can and should become fundamental tools of risk assessment and risk management in modern corporate and organisational practice.

Monitoring the South Australian Cannabis Expiation Notice Initiative

The policing services offered by private security companies have been embraced enthusiastically by public and private entities the world over. It is argued in this paper that the impact of the “privatization” trend is, however, underestimated and understudied. In order to understand the importance of the phenomenon, and to measure its impact, it is important for researchers to undertake international comparisons of both the reach of private security and the extent to which its industries shape and complement the policing task. In pursuit of that end, this paper is designed to provide a snapshot description of the coverage of private security industries worldwide (where current information is available), along with an analysis of their impact.

Public-Private Crime Prevention Partnerships

ABSTRACT This paper examines recent events and issues involving security providers that have drawn adverse attention in Australia, primarily through media reporting. The study covers the decade from 1999 to mid‐2008. Eleven key events are examined, including fatalities resulting from security officer actions, illicit activity by motorcycle gangs involved in nightclub security, fraud in contracts for patrol services, and lax security at airports. The paper analyses how these events illustrate risk areas of security work and the limitations of the regulatory systems operating at the time. Recognition of the problems drove a ‘second wave’ of regulatory reform of the industry in the direction of comprehensive licensing, with enhanced training requirements, tougher entry and licence retention tests, and closer scrutiny of security providers – consistent with an emerging best practice model of industry regulation. The authors support the general direction of these innovations while emphasising the need for proactive monitoring of the industry and a nationally consistent system of licensing.

Beyond ‘What Works?’ A 25-year Jubilee Retrospective of Robert Martinsons Famous Article

In 1987, a Labor government in South Australia made widespread changes to laws concerning possession and use of small amounts of cannabis. At the time of the introduction of the new legislation, because of not inconsiderable media and other attention being paid to law enforcement data on the controversial “on-the-spot” scheme, the government gave an undertaking that the new approach would be monitored and results published Despite problems with the lack of long-term survey data on patterns and trends of drug consumption in Australia, and the fact that only limited research resources were available, the Office of Crime Statistics undertook a study of the critical first nine months of the new procedures. Monitoring the new system provided Parliament and the public with the opportunity to assess operation of the new procedures and to gauge whether there had been consequences not anticipated when the legislative changes were made. Full results of the study are in Cannabis: The Expiation Notice Approach released in South Australia in September 1989 (Office of Crime Statistics 1989). This article reproduces parts of the report and provides an update on an attempt in 1990 by the South Australian Opposition party to repeal the scheme.

The Influence of Gaming Expenditure on Crime Rates in South Australia: A Local Area Empirical Investigation

Partnerships between the public and private sectors — including police and private security — are promoted as providing a synergetic effect in crime prevention. This chapter considers both the potential benefits and risks of these partnerships, and reports on diverse examples from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia, most of which have demonstrated large reductions in target crimes. Despite the fact that police and private security operate on quite different principles of private and public interests, there does seem to be scope for enhanced relationships that provide wide benefits to diverse stakeholders. With this in mind, the chapter concludes with a set of guiding principles for ensuring accountability and optimal outcomes in crime prevention partnerships.

Balancing Privacy with Legitimate Surveillance and Lawful Data Access

The story behind the publication of American sociologist Robert Martinsons 1974 article entitled “What Works?” provides researchers, policy-makers and social science observers with a sobering reminder of the possibilities of research conclusions assuming an inappropriate life of their own. This paper explores briefly the origins of the article and its impact at the time on corrections policy It discusses some of the events since 1974, in both the USA and Australia, that demonstrate the subsequent reification of “Nothing Works”. It is not designed as contributing to the debate on the effectiveness of rehabilitation. Rather the story is used an illustration of the potential for research to fall victim to the dangers of socially constructed realities.

Policing Young Offenders: What Role Discretion?

Although there has been much speculation about the possible links between gambling and crime rates, relevant quantitative evidence has been practically non-existent in Australia to date. This paper reports the results of research that utilised a model designed to investigate the potential relationship between electronic gaming machine expenditures and property (income-generating) crime rates reported to police in local areas in South Australia in 2002–2003. The research found that the higher the expenditures on gaming machines in a particular local area per adult, the higher the income-generating crime rate in that area. No such relationship was found between gaming machine expenditure and non-income-generating crime rates. However, further research is required before any policy-relevant conclusions can be drawn.

Aviation Security Issues in Australia Post–9/11

The modern business world has overseen a massive expansion in global technological capacity. This expansion has allowed us to take great strides in electronic commerce and international communication. There are downsides, however. The new technologies have opened up a vast array of avenues for criminal activity. The new technologies also carry with them intrusive capabilities, and these, too, will require policies and laws that hold accountable those who abuse them. Legislators and policymakers the world over must remain abreast of current developments, being constantly mindful of the difficulties that will challenge any society that keenly embraces new technological capacity without putting in place appropriate regulatory mechanisms and legal regimes. The following overview reviews these themes in the context of cloud technology.