In the study, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research assessed five areas related to the pilot programme:

• Level of satisfaction of conference participants with the process and outcomes
• Increase in the amount of responsibility taken by the offenders
• Satisfaction of key stakeholders with programme implementation and their recommendations for improvement
• Success in reaching the intended target group
• Rate of reoffending
  

To measure the satisfaction of conference participants, researchers asked the victims, offenders and support persons to complete a structured questionnaire immediately following their conferences. From 12 September 2005 to 31 October 2006 questionnaires were completed for 171 conferences. Respondents included 178 offenders, 89 victims, 172 offender support persons, 44 victim support persons, and 42 victim representatives.

About half of all cases referred to the community conferencing pilot consisted of either traffic/motor vehicle offences (46.4%) or drug related offences (4.3%). Since these are considered to be victimless crimes, the majority of conferences were held with a victim representative instead of a direct victim. This meant that

• 35.5% of conferences included a direct victim
• 47.4% included a victim representative
  
• 17.0% did not include either a direct victim or victim representative

Satisfaction was measured in 3 areas: preparation, conference proceedings and the intervention plans developing from the conference.

In terms of pre-conference preparation,

• 97% of all participant categories felt they were informed of the conference arrangements in ‘good time’
• 58-74% thought they had received ‘a lot’ of information about what would take place
• 86-92% were ‘quite satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the conference arrangements

In assessing the conference proceedings,

• 73-85% of all participant categories felt the conference was ‘very fair’ to the offender
• 61-76% felt it was ‘very fair’ to the victim
• 93% felt they had been treated with respect during the conference
• 96% agreed they had been allowed to express their views during the conference
• 91% felt the conference had taken their statements into account when making decisions.

Intervention plans were developed in 166 of the 171 conferences. In describing these plans:

• 91% of all participant categories were satisfied with the plan
• 81-93% felt the intervention plan was fair to the offender
• Only 50% of victims, victim supporters and offender supporters felt the plan was ‘very fair’ to the victim

The participant surveys also attempted to gauge whether or not the conferences helped the young adult offenders gain a better understanding of the harm caused by their actions. One question asked if ‘after the conference, the [offender] had a proper understanding of the harm caused to the victim.” Almost all (91.5-96.5%) offenders, offender supporters, and victim supporters agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. A somewhat smaller number of victims (71.6%) also agreed with this statement.

To assess the views of key stakeholders toward the community conferencing for young adult offenders, the researchers undertook short face-to-face interviews and focus group meetings with magistrates, senior and operational police, conference facilitators, staff involved in the management and implementation of the programme and members of an inter-departmental working group. 

The stakeholder interviews and focus groups revealed several suggestions for improvement and expansion including:

• Undertake a gradual expansion of the program across the State
• Clearly articulate the program objectives
• Modify the eligibility criteria
• Obtain stakeholder commitment to the program
• Determine the role of the police in the overall program and conference process
• Ensure magistrates more consistently apply the eligibility criteria
• Ensure magistrates articulate their rationale for referring offenders to the program
• Ensure that the same magistrate deals with a matter until it is finalised
• Develop a pro forma court report, with a succinct summary of key features, for submission to the magistrate prior to the offender’s sentence hearing, to allow the magistrate time to consider the report.
• Develop rules regarding attendance at and participation in conferences by victim representatives
  

To measure the extent to which the programme resulted in diversions from prison, the research looked at the percentage of prison sentences for the 12 months prior to the start of the pilot programme and the 12 month period after. The data show that incarceration rates were unchanged. The researchers concluded from this that the programme had the effect of net-widening instead of diverting young adult offenders away from prison.

The recidivism aspect of the research was inconclusive give the short follow-up time after the conference (average of 4.8 months). Further research will need to be undertaken to ascertain the recidivism rates for the young adult community conferencing programme.

The report, An Evaluation of the NSW Community Conferencing for Young Adults Pilot Program, by Julie People and Lily Trimboli is available online from the NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics Research.

November 2007