There is a perception in Victoria that some ethnic groups are more heavily involved in illicit drugs than others. The published police and prison statistics appear to support this view. The paper discusses why published statistics show an increase in drug offending by people of Vietnamese birth, describes some of the outcomes of current criminal justice responses to the illicit drug problem in Victoria, and identifies differing offending patterns between drug offenders of “Asian” and “non-Asian” backgrounds. Court and Juvenile Justice key informants’ perceptions of the reasons young “Asian” people become involved with heroin is also briefly discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonP. (2000). Police vow to reclaim streets. In the Herald-Sun 14/7/00. Page 11.
2.
Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (1999). Australian Illicit Drug Report 1997-.1998Commonwealth of Australia.
3.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996). Specific tables requested from the 1996 Australian Census, for the Victorian population by country of birth.
4.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999). 1999 Victorian Year Book. Commonwealth Government of Australia.
5.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999). Prisoners in Australia, 1998. A report prepared for the Corrective Services Ministers’ Council. National Corrective Services Statistics Unit.
6.
BeyerL. & ReidG. (2000). Drugs in a Multicultural Community — An Assessment of Involvement. Macfarlane Burnet Centre for the Department of Human Services, Victoria. http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/phd/0008087/.
ChanJ.B.L. (1997) Changing police culture. Policing in a multicultural society. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
9.
ElliottC. (1996). Making the news: The construction of heroin and its victims. Honours thesis. Criminology Department. University of Melbourne.
10.
GraboskyP., & WilsonP. (1989). Journalism and Justice. Pluto Press. Sydney.
11.
GoldsmithA.J.1991. Complaints against the police: A community policing perspective. In McKillopS. & VernonJ. (Eds.), The Police and the Community. Conference Proceedings. No. 5.Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
12.
HansenK. (1996). Doing deadly business. In The Herald-Sun 11/11/96. Page 4.
13.
Juvenile Justice Client Information System (2000). Clients in custody on sentence as at the end of each quarter. 1996-1998, by ethnicity Child Protection and Juvenile Justice Branch, Department of Human Services. (Unpublished data derived from a standard JJCIS database query).
14.
McPheeC. (Ed.) (2000). The Law Handbook. 2000Melbourne: Fitzroy Legal Service.
15.
MaherL.DixonD.LynskeyM., & HallW. (1998). Running the risks. Heroin, Health and ham in South West Sydney. Monograph No 38. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of NSW.
16.
MoorK. (1997). Dealers in death. In The Herald-Sun 7/10/97. Page 1.
17.
Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner (February1999). Statistical Profile of the Victorian Prison System 1993/96 to 1997/98. No 1.Department of Justice, Victoria.
18.
RoddH., & LeberS. (1996). Beyond gangs, drugs and gambling. In BrethertonD. (Ed.), No longer black and white. Volume 1. Media Responsibility in Ethnic and Racial Conflict. Proceedings of a conference on the media and ethnic and racial conflict International Conflict Resolution Centre, University of Melbourne. 1-2 November.
19.
Soo-LinQuek. (1997). The imagined reality of Vietnamese young people in the media. In BessantJ. & HillR. (Eds.), Youth, crime and the media. Hobart.
20.
Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision. (February1999). Report on Government Services1999. Volume 1. Productivity Commission, Commonwealth of Australia.
21.
TwitchinJ. (1993). Deconstructing the media: A Vital dimension of anti-racist practise. In Migration Action. December.
22.
Victoria Police (1999). Crime Statistics 1997/98. Statistical Services Unit, Victoria Police, Melbourne.
23.
WhiteR.1994. Street life: Police practices and youth behaviour. In WhiteR. & AlderC. (Eds.), The Police and Young People in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
