Is this the answer to crime prevention?
From fairer drug policing and prisoner reintegration to early mental health support, new research shows smarter, community-focused approaches could help prevent crime before it starts.
Crime, justice and policing are top of mind for many Australians, and research suggests better results may come not just from tougher responses, but from acting earlier and more effectively.
In the latest Flinders Wicked Problems Report released in June 2026, which asked people across the country to identify the most pressing issues in their communities, 37 per cent of respondents named crime and safety as a major concern.
Many pointed to youth crime, repeat offending and a sense that the system is not doing enough to keep communities safe.
Alongside calls for stronger consequences, there were also calls for intervention, and for that to happen earlier.
“Strengthen community support programs, youth engagement initiatives, better mental-health and addiction services,” one person stated.
That tension between punishment and prevention sits at the heart of the national conversation on crime. But some of the answers to this complex challenge can come from research that’s already pointing to practical, evidence-based solutions.
At Flinders, researchers are tackling the issue from multiple angles: reducing reoffending, improving the fairness of policing, and identifying and expanding the kinds of support that can stop people entering the justice system in the first place.
Leading efforts to break the prison cycle
Flinders University is leading a major national effort to reduce reoffending, backed by $35 million in Australian Research Council funding.
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The new Centre of Excellence for Prisoner Reintegration is being established at a time when Australia faces a persistent cycle of incarceration, with nearly half of the 67,000 people released from prison each year returning within two years. On top of that correctional costs are projected to exceed $7 billion nationally by 2030.
The new centre is bringing together leading researchers, government agencies and community organisations from across Australia and overseas.
Led by Flinders’ Centre for Social Impact, the program will focus on understanding the root causes of incarceration and developing evidence-based solutions to support people leaving prison to rebuild their lives.
A key priority will be working alongside First Nations organisations to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the justice system, with culturally grounded approaches central to the research.
Centre director, Professor Mark Halsey, says the centre will focus its efforts on 32 correctional sites, as well as 16 communities across four jurisdictions.
“By combining research and industry collaboration, the centre will oversee the creation of new national metrics for measuring post-release success along with a national reintegration database for embedding best practice among correctional agencies,” Professor Halsey says.
“We will also develop a network of reintegration champions capable of providing employment and other supports for ex-prisoners, as well as several bespoke community hubs capable of meeting people’s basic and more complex needs.”
Researchers say the long-term goal is to reduce reincarceration rates, improve community safety and deliver better social and economic outcomes.
Fair policing key to reducing harm
Illicit drug offences are one of the most commonly recorded offences in Australia every year – with most involving minor possession rather than supply. And Flinders research shows that how police deal with people at street level can make or break efforts to reduce drug-related harm.
While punitive policing approaches such as arrest are largely ineffective at reducing drug use and may increase drug-related harms, emerging research shows fair and respectful policing is critical.
A new report by Associate Professor Caitlin Hughes, funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology, examined “procedural justice” – whether people feel they are treated with dignity, listened to and handled fairly by police. These perceptions matter: when people believe police are fair, they are more likely to cooperate and comply with the law or seek help, including during drug overdose.
However, the study found widespread concerns about policing fairness, including perceptions of selective enforcement of drug laws. Australia ranked just 20th out of 30 countries on perceptions that police “pick and choose” how laws are enforced.
The results from this research come as governments continue to invest heavily in policing, which accounts for most drug policy spending. Australia spends about $5.5 billion annually on trying to combat illicit drugs, with 64 per cent directed at law enforcement.
Associate Professor Caitlin Hughes says this research offers important insights into how to better reduce drug-related harms.
“Given the concerns about the equity of drug law enforcement, reshaping the legal environment is recommended to incentivise fair enforcement of Australian drug laws, particularly for Indigenous and other ethnic minority groups,” she says.
“Measures such as police carrying naloxone and increasing alternatives to arrest for minor drug offences can build more positive interactions and deliver health, social and economic benefits.”
Associate Professor Hughes adds that fairer, more transparent and respectful policing could reduce repeat offending and strengthen trust between communities and law enforcement particularly among young people and groups disproportionately targeted by drug policing.
“The evidence is clear – by focusing on fairness, transparency and respect, there is an opportunity to improve justice outcomes and community wellbeing, consistent with a harm minimisation approach”.
This work is also feeding into new efforts to respond to methamphetamine use in rural and regional Australia.
Recent evidence suggests that crystal methamphetamine use has been increasing across Australia, especially in regional communities. However, most research and monitoring systems in Australia focus on capital cities.
As a result, there is limited knowledge about the scale of the methamphetamine market in regional areas, the full impacts on local communities or the pressures placed on already stretched services such as emergency departments, social services, police or courts. Equally there has been limited attention to how regional communities can be better supported to respond to this complex challenge.
To address these gaps, Associate Professor Hughes, along with Professor Halsey and Professor Jacqueline Bowden, the director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), are set to launch a new survey funded by the Australian Research Council exploring methamphetamine supply and demand in regional communities. The results will help them identify new solutions.
The Beyond City Limits program is working directly with communities to identify what’s missing and what would make the biggest difference.
The project takes a practical approach, co-designing solutions with local residents, service providers and policymakers to improve outcomes where they’re needed most.
At Flinders University, we are dedicated to finding solutions to complex challenges with research that matters. In the spirit of co-designing our research with community, we asked Australians from across the nation to voice the problems that matter to them the most in their local communities, resulting in the Flinders Wicked Problems Report. Read more here.
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