Reforms in the Australian Criminal Justice System: A Discussion

This discussion explores the Australian criminal justice system, highlighting its structure as a network of state-managed agencies focused on crime reduction. It identifies key components like the police, prosecution, courts, and correctional homes, emphasizing their roles in investigation, adjudication, and rehabilitation. The discussion also acknowledges the importance of victim support groups, police prosecutors, and defense lawyers in the system. Furthermore, it addresses ongoing reforms aimed at improving service delivery to meet the needs of Australia's diverse community, including indigenous-led initiatives and community-focused sentencing laws. The goal of these reforms is to provide more effective and faster services to individuals facing criminal issues, reflecting the government's commitment to making Australia a safer and more equitable place to live.

Criminal Justice System Australia
Discussion

What is the Criminal justice system and what key reforms are underway to improve future
service delivery to meet the needs and expectations of our diverse community?
Law and order is distinct for every country. There are different countries in the world that have
different kinds of law and order system operating in the society. Some are too strict about crime
and some look at crime as an issue arising from social need (Goldsmith & Israel, 2000 pg, 112).
It is important to note that worldwide there are different kinds of justice system followed and
criminal justice system stands to be a key part of law (Ni, 2016 pg, 65). The criminal justice
system is mainly focused on managing crime and criminals and provides them with proper
rehabilitation so that they can get back to mainstream life as soon as possible (Pallaras, 2006 pg,
56). Every country has their own format of legal system among which some are adopted from
long standing legal systems (Joyce, 2013 pg, 77). The need of criminal justice system emerges
with the increase of crime in the society and hence it is extremely important for the governments
of different nation to constantly assess the efficacy of the criminal justice system being used
(Joudo-Larsen, 2014 pg, 67).
The United Kingdom has been the source of legal system for many countries especially for those
countries that have been influenced by British colonialism. Australia is one nation that has been
highly influenced by the English legal system and has adopted a number of features from the
English Law especially in the context of criminal justice system (Ni, 2016 pg, 76). It is
extremely important to note that the Australian Legal system too is pretty similar to the English
legal system where the country treats every person equally without discrimination. While
discussing the criminal justice system it is extremely important to first of all understand crime
(Joudo-Larsen, 2014 pg, 87). Crime could be defined as the action or omission which when
committed is punishable by law (Pallaras, 2006 pg, 77). Crime could be of different types and
hence it was important to develop a strong system which would oversee crime under law and
also provide effective rehabilitative strategies which would help to make improvements in people
who commit crime (Dandurand, 2014 pg, 55). When there is a separate division to manage cases
related to civil issues there is also a different system to manage crimes like robbery, homicide,
molestation, petty criminal cases et cetera which is criminal justice system (Goldsmith & Israel,
2000 pg, 32).

The criminal justice system could be defined as a network involving different agencies which
focuses on stopping, mitigating and minimising criminal activities in the society. In this context
it is important to mention that the Australian criminal justice system is extremely strong and
hence it helps the government to keep crime under check successfully (Ni, 2016 pg, 44). In
Australia, criminal justice system is not considered as a system at all rather it is considered as an
arrangement of number of different provincial and state managed agencies that aim to reduce
crime in the society which makes the criminal justice system pretty effective in the country
(Joyce, 2013 pg, 121). These organisations do have bodies that involve in thorough inquest that
along with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission gets the criminals and offenders to
bring them to the court of law for further action (Pallaras, 2006 pg, 109). Hence it could be said
that the criminal justice system in Australia is not a system but a collection of agencies that aim
to eradicate crime from the society (Joyce, 2013 pg, 107). Crime removal is also a political and
social responsibility of the government and hence the Government of Australia keeps the powers
to manage the criminal justice system with itself which helps to manage crime and implement
changes to manage crime in the best possible manner (Ni, 2016 pg, 40).
There are few aspects to criminal justice system which has to be highlighted in this discussion as
it helps to provide perfect understanding of the term. Criminal justice system from the point of
view of a layman is a reactive organisation that only comes into the picture once a crime has
been committed (Dandurand, 2014 pg, 67). This is a common notion of most of the people
because they hardly understand the role of criminal justice system in the society. The criminal
justice system mainly has three different wings which are investigative wings (police),
Interpretive and decision making wing (criminal courts) and correctional wing (prisons) (Joyce,
2013 pg, 36). It is important to note that these three wings act together in a proactive manner to
reduce crime from the society where they always have to act even when the crime is not
committed for instance to develop campaigns to create awareness about certain kinds of crime
which is extremely important to reduce the rate of crime in the country (Pallaras, 2006 pg, 119).
In Australia crime awareness is given paramount importance which brings these wings in the
picture (Ni, 2016 pg, 21). The criminal justice system in Australia independently and have
appointed chiefs in every departments who play a crucial role in decision making for that
particular department. The politicians and the media have a huge role to plays in how the
criminal justice system operates in the country (Goldsmith & Israel, 2000 pg, 57).

The criminal justice system operates in a systematic manner where a case is investigated and
adversarial criminal justice is practiced where two different parties are there one defending one
appealing in the case (Dandurand, 2014 pg, 91). Once the report is submitted to the state based
criminal agency the case moves to the court where attorneys fight each other to bring the truth
out and ultimately it depends on the judge to give the verdict (Joyce, 2013 pg, 93). This kind of
practice is practiced in different countries namely, UK, US, India, New Zealand et cetera
(Dandurand, 2014 pg, 99). Hence it could be said that several different departments are involved
criminal justice system for the effective operations of the system. These departments are
discussed below:
Police: They are the primary body of investigation for the Australian Government (Pallaras, 2006
pg, 11). The police department allots cases to officers who then implement rigorous investigation
to get evidence on a particular case and submits the report to the upper management which then
moves to the next body involved Criminal Justice System (Joyce, 2013 pg, 28). The main roles
of the police department is to manage crimes, investigate crimes, arrest and detain accused,
maintain law and order, act during emergency situation and manage traffic (Joyce, 2013 pg, 78).
Prosecution: The prosecution department plays an important role in the overall criminal justice
system (Dandurand, 2014 pg, 33). It cannot be denied that if the courts start taking even petty
cases the employees of the judiciary wouldn’t have respite and hence the main role of the
prosecution team is to filter out petty or insignificant cases and keep the strong and complex
cases which are important to be solved (Joudo-Larsen, 2014 pg 33). This doesn’t mean that the
petty cases are not resolved but are resolved by the rapid courts. The prosecution also requires
preparing the cases for presentation to the courts which is an extremely important job of this
department. The prosecution also needs to work on the cases of youths and children to be
presented in the magistrate courts, district courts, supreme courts et cetera (Pallaras, 2006 pg,
81).
Courts: The courts are responsible mainly to hear cases and give verdict to the cases. It is an
important part of the judiciary. It is important to note that the courts also decide on respite for the
criminal or accused by fulfilling the demands of bail and putting stay orders on appeal. The court
is also responsible to point fingers on the crimes and make sure the society is able to realise the
negative side of crime and its ultimate outcome (Goldsmith & Israel, 2000 pg 116-117).

Correctional Homes: The main roles of these homes are to oversee the prisoners once they are
sentenced by the courts. The correctional homes are focused on keeping the guilty in prison or in
rehabilitation centers to prepare them again for the society (Joudo-Larsen, 2014 pg, 60). The
correctional homes hold people on remand and maintain the people who are sentenced life time
sentence as well as prepare the prisoners for release (Pallaras, 2006 pg, 60). Overall it is
important to note that the correctional homes play an important role in the criminal justice
system because they show the actual pictures to the inmates and also to the society for those who
go the wrong way about the result of committing a crime (Goldsmith & Israel, 2000 pg, 121).
The juvenile homes are extremely important for the Commonwealth Government because it
helps to bring children and youths from the traps of crime and provides them with a clear life
which is extremely important not only for them but also for the country (Murphy, Maddon &
Cherney, 2017 pg, 27).
The other key organisations that play an important role in Australian Criminal Justice system are
victim support groups, Police prosecutors and defense lawyers (Ni, 2016 pg, 73). These
organisations are extremely important for the Australian Government because they play a crucial
role in managing crime for instance; the victim support groups play an important role for the
victim by supporting him or her emotionally and also with legal assistance which helps the
victims to be strong during the process (Murphy, Maddon & Cherney, 2017 pg, 73). On the other
hand the defense lawyers play an important role especially to plead for the defendants and
focuses on saving the accused from any kind of punishment or defamation (Ni, 2016 pg, 48). The
police in some of the cases act as prosecutors especially in youth and children cases for better
provision of justice (Joyce, 2013 pg, 13).
The criminal justice system of Australia has been extremely effective which has helped to reduce
the number of inmates in jail in the recent past. This clearly shows that the Government
constantly strives to make Australia a better place to live in by creating jobs and by providing
education to the people (Ni, 2016 pg, 13). Australia is a nation that experiences presence of
diverse community. The criminal justice system in the country is focused to serve the purpose of
the Government to not only to reduce crime from the country but also to provide effective and
faster delivery of services to people facing criminal assault of any kind (Murphy, Maddon &
Cherney, 2017 pg, 34). This is the main reason for the government to constantly focus on making

reforms in the criminal justice system which would help the organisation to provide effective
services to the people in the future. There are different kinds of reforms which are likely to come
for better provision of services in the near future (Joudo-Larsen., 2014 pg, 70).
One of the major criminal justice reforms that are underway is the indigenous led initiative
which would help to provide better platform for the indigenous people to get access to criminal
justice effectively (Dandurand, 2014 pg 100-102). Especially for the young indigenous children
this reform will be effective because so far the criminal justice system has contravened the
juvenile justice practice against these indigenous kids and hence it is important for the state level
government bodies to emphasise on indigenous safety (Murphy, Maddon & Cherney, 2017 pg,
103). Another major reform that has come has been related to the community and the trial of
people (Joudo-Larsen., 2014 pg, 52). As per the reform implemented which came in the form of
a law will force the judges to see the community while sitting to assess the cases and give
verdicts. It’s a new sentencing law which is the Sentencing Bill 2017 which is likely to help the
various communities (Murphy, Maddon & Cherney, 2017 pg, 41).
In the last year the Government of Australia passed another key law through state parliament
which is likely to help the government to manage cases faster and give verdicts too (Murphy,
Maddon & Cherney, 2017 pg, 82). The Summary Procedure Justice Amendment Bill 2017 is in
the pipeline which is an effective reform for the service users of law as it enhances the
information sharing process in the criminal justice sector (Ni, 2016 pg, 34). The Electronic
Transactions (Legal Proceedings) Amendment Bill 2017 is effective because it makes
transference of documents through electronic mode easier and hence faster management of
criminal cases (Joudo-Larsen, 2014 pg, 45). Apart from this the Summary Procedure (indictable
Offences) Amendment Act 2017 will help to change resolutions on earlier managed criminal
cases. Already in several places of Australia especially in South Australia these reforms are
expected to work well which is a positive sign for the Government as well as for people (Ni,
2016 pg, 65). There is a long standing conflict between the indigenous people and the Australian
Government and through these reforms it is expected to come to a melting point (Joyce, 2013 pg,
111).

References
Dandurand, Y, 2014, ‘Criminal Justice Reform and the System’s Efficiency’, Criminal Law
Forum, vol. 25(3), pp.383-440.
Goldsmith, A&Israel, M 2000 ‘Criminal Justice in diverse communities: An Introduction’, Law
inContext, vol.17, no.1, pp.1-14.
Joudo-Larsen, J, 2014,’Restorative Justice in the Australian criminal justice system’, Canberra:
Australian Institute of Criminology, vol.p., AIC reports.
Joyce, P 2013, Criminal Justice, An Introduction, 2nd edn, Routledge, USA and Canada, Taylor
& Francis eBooks.
Murphy, K, Madon, NK &Cherney, A 2017,’Promoting Muslims’ cooperation with police in
counter-terrorism’, Policing, vol.40, no.3, pp.544-559.
Ni, MM 2016,’Prevention initiatives within the criminal justice systemof Western Australia and
the importance of the reciprocal relationship between the individual and the community’, The
WesternAustralian Jurist, vol.7, pp107-141.
Pallaras, S 2006,’Changes to the criminal justice system’, Original Law Review, vol.2(1), p.11-
18.
Walklate, S, Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice, 2ndedition, London.