2016 ANZSOC – Sponsor Profiles

The Tasmanian Government is committed to ensuring its laws reflect best practice as it readies itself for future needs and challenges within the criminal justice system.

Some legislative changes currently being progressed include:

  • Modernising and streamlining the processes of the Magistrates Court Criminal and Civil Division;
  • Investigating alternative sentencing options, including the progressive phasing out of suspended sentences and the introduction of meaningful alternative sentencing options;
  • Introducing minimum mandatory sentences for serious child sexual offences;
  • Strengthening Tasmania’s bullying laws;
  • Ensuring that sex offenders in our prison participate in appropriate treatment programs; and
  • Establishing a Custodial Inspector, tasked with providing independent external scrutiny of all aspects of prisons and detention centres in Tasmania.

The University of Tasmania has been teaching law since 1893 and has built an enviable reputation for academic achievement and excellence in legal teaching.

The Faculty of Law is ranked in the top 200 law schools worldwide by the QS World Rankings.  The Faculty was ranked ‘above world standard’ in the most recent ERA rankings.  We have two dedicated research centres in the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute and the Centre for Law and Genetics.

A special feature of law at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) is that being the only university in the State, we are privileged to have tremendous support from the legal profession, judiciary and magistracy for practical skills training, for our mooting program, and assisting in judging competitions and selecting teams for participation in national competitions.

The Law Faculty offers a contemporary undergraduate law curriculum with a global perspective, and encourages student commitment to social justice and community service. For example, many students are involved with community legal centres or other community organisations. We also have a strong research higher degree program (PhD and LLM) as well as a number of postgraduate coursework programs.

We provide a supportive, vibrant, and collegiate environment, rich in diversity, promoting a high performance culture for students and staff.

The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) is an international association established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice. ACJS promotes criminal justice education, research, and policy analysis within the discipline of criminal justice for both educators and practitioners.

Providing a forum for disseminating ideas related to issues in research, policy, education, and practice within the field, ACJS attributes its success in creating this dynamic professional association to the composition of its membership. As change expands the existing boundaries of the criminal justice field, ACJS is comprised of members from a variety of diversified backgrounds including:

  • Scholars who are international in scope and multidisciplinary in orientation,
  • Professionals from all sectors of the criminal justice system, and
  • Students seeking to explore the criminal justice field as future scholars or practitioners

Through the vital interchange of ideas, ACJS members develop and share knowledge about critical issues regarding crime and criminal and social justice. ACJS is comprised of an amalgam of scholars (international in scope and multidisciplinary in orientation), professionals (from all segments of the justice system), and students.

The Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies (TILES), formed by the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management (DPFEM), is based at the University of Tasmania’s Sandy Bay campus and formally operates within the School of Social Sciences in the Faculty of Arts. The Institute was established in 2002 and is the focal point for research conducted in policing, forensic studies and law enforcement related studies at the university.

The Institute’s mission is to enhance our understanding of the causes of social change and to develop innovative and sustainable strategies to shape the trajectory of change, and to address its consequences.

Our approach emphasises the translation of critical inquiry and scholarly knowledge from a range of disciplinary perspectives into practical strategies to promote social adaptation, transformation and renewal.

The distinctiveness of our research is derived from our capacity to work with the Tasmanian community to develop and trial innovative strategies which both respond to local need, and address globally significant problems.