Law and Order Blues

This paper discusses law and order politics and policy in Australia. It challenges the conventional criminological wisdom that Australia does not have a serious crime problem. It argues that, while political responses to crime are all too frequently irrational, this is not because Australian state and territory governments so often rely on punitive law and order policies. Australian law and order policy is irrational because it usually lacks any clear rationale, is rarely subjected to any effectiveness or cost-effectiveness evaluation, frequently ignores the possibility of unintended side-effects and is occasionally founded on a misdiagnosis of the crime problem that prompts it. The paper concludes by discussing various explanations for this state of affairs and what can be done about it.