A Flinders University centre to be officially launched today (June 10) is dedicated to increasing knowledge and debate about crime.

The new Centre for Crime Policy and Research (CCPR) will be launched today (Tuesday, June 10) at an event where SA Attorney-General John Rau and Dr Adam Tomison, Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology, will be guest speakers.

The Director of the Centre, Professor Andrew Goldsmith, said the CCPR aims to conduct high-quality research, to contribute to policy and reform debates, and to increase educational capacity for the State through short courses.

“The parameters of the Centre are anything to do with corruption and crime,” Professor Goldsmith said. “It can be local, national or international.”

He said the establishment of the Centre builds on a body of research and teaching in criminology and criminal justice amassed at Flinders over the past 15 years.

“Flinders has a recognised national reputation for its research: the Centre will consolidate and extend this activity through building networks with other researchers and practitioners,” Professor Goldsmith said.

“We will also undertake outreach and entrepreneurial activities, the main forms being consultancy research and short courses.

“And as our name suggests, we are expecting Centre members to become engaged in contemporary issues in the public policy arena as they relate to crime and justice.”

Areas of expertise among Centre staff include organised crime and criminal networks, organisational integrity and corruption prevention, policing and new technologies, justice and security systems, youth offending and corrections, and transnational security.

One of the Centre’s roles will be to organise forums on topical issues related to crime. Professor Goldsmith said the Centre has already run forums on whistleblowing and the civilian use of drones.

He said the Centre’s next forum in August, Is Bail Broke?, will address the issue of bail, already a controversial and problematic area for the criminal justice system and for the State’s finances.

“Bail, and the number of people on remand in custody, is one of the big issues for the government today,” Professor Goldsmith said.