University of Tasmania Associate Professor Bartkowiak-Theron and Dr Michael Guerzoni, alongside Associate Professor Colvin from Charles Sturt University are undertaking a research project on bail for Indigenous clients in Tasmania and New South Wales.
Funding has been received from the Criminology Research Grants Program to conduct this study. The details of the research team are below, as well as a link to the information statement about this research. Part of this research is surveying lawyers about the challenges they experience when their Indigenous clients are seeking bail.
Full ethics approval has been received from the Tasmanian Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval No 30585) and Charles Sturt University (Protocol No H24948) to conduct this research. The contribution from lawyers to the survey will allow them to identify the key challenges lawyers experience, how lawyers address these challenges and explore pathways to improve the opportunity for Indigenous peoples to be granted bail. Refusal of bail is a key driver of over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.
Link to the online survey (https://utas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1ZCERhykG9BfxvE). The link takes you to a page providing details of the study, and here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RXT_k18t3Me9o1_afUWDlXJOEe6RvKgV/view?usp=sharing), you can find a full information sheet. Click the ‘start survey’ button and commence the survey immediately. Clicking the final button indicates consent to survey responses being collected and used as data for the study. No identifying information is collected, with anonymity throughout the study.
If you have any questions, contact the research team on the below details.
Associate Professor Emma Colvin ecolvin@csu.edu.au
Associate Professor Isabelle Bartkowiak-Theron isabelle.bartkowiaktheron@utas.edu.au
Dr Michael Guerzoni m.a.guerzoni@utas.edu.au