Associate ProfessorClare Farmer

Key Research Areas:

The challenges of balancing the competing interests of offenders, victims, and the wider community within/across the criminal legal system...

• Decision-making within and across the criminal legal processes, and associated functions, agencies, and services.
• Responses to anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder, and sexual violence.
• The use, effect/s, and effectiveness of specific interventions: with a focus on harm prevention, restoration, and enforcement.
• Policy and operational responses to alcohol-related disorder and violence.
• Police powers: the use and expansion of discretionary powers to punish, exclude, and prohibit.
• Expansion and civilianisation of discretionary powers in a criminal legal and civil context.
• Police militarisation and the use of force.
• Trauma- informed and responsive practices across criminal legal processes, and in higher education
• Human rights, and their application within/across the criminal legal processes.
• Sentencing principles and practices. Scrutiny of the application of sentencing principles and outcomes in the context of the 'instinctive synthesis'.
• Criminal legal processes and procedures; due process and procedural protections.

Current/recent supervision of PhD projects exploring:
* reproductive coercion (under examination)
* university sexual violence policy and practice (completed)

* technology facilitated domestic and family violence (completed)

* police and the law in Sri Lanka (pending submission)
* justice reinvestment
* restorative justice

* supporting children with intellectual impairment who experience sexual violence

Leadership of Funded Research Projects: 2016 - 2028

For each project, links to relevant publications (peer reviewed journal papers and books) are included.

2026 - 2028: City of Casey Council - Police Operated Mobile CCTV and Safety Infrastructure - Independent Evaluation. Contract Research

Pending update...

2026: Hidden in Plain Sight. Police complaint systems and police-perpetrated domestic, family, and sexual violence: a unique challenge for accountability? Faculty Research Project Development Grant: $9,995

Project purpose and my role: Lead CI for this foundational project addressing the links between PPDFSV and police complaint systems; identifying key issues in relation to police accountability, victim-survivor interests and safety; creating an inventory of online resources to support victim-survivors. 

This project will form the basis for one or more wider studies, in collaboration with external partners, to examine the experiences of PPDFSV victim-survivors when interacting with internal and external complaint systems, and broader systemic challenges for criminal legal organisations. These broader studies are intended to facilitate a connected approach across Victoria (initially, then expanding into other jurisdictions subject to funding) to embed critical approaches to better understand and address barriers and harms encountered by PPDFSV victim-survivors, and strengthen the evidence-base with respect to experiences addressing PPDFSV. 

2026: Students as Partners Microgrant, $11,000: Co-designing and delivering an inclusive, Equity-First employability resources for the Deakin Criminology program. 

Project purpose and my role: Lead CI for this teaching and learning focused project supporting the career awareness and preparedness of Deakin Criminology students. The project centres an Equity-First approach, with a focus on understanding and addressing inequities within career development learning. We are partnering with four Deakin Criminology undergraduate students to understand student career aspirations and expectations, and map them to core skills that are sought by employers. The project links to, and builds from, the Criminology Employability Project noted below. 

Commendation: The grant application, that I led, was commended for 'its strong alignment with student learning outcomes and its plan to map key career skills relevant to self, cohort, and industry. It’s great to see the project’s continued evolution, broad stakeholder engagement, and inclusion of collaborative CoLab delivery with feedback loops and student co-facilitation.'

2026 - 2028: NHMRC-MRFF - $1.68m grant. Investigating the Impact of Increased Alcohol Access from Policy Change on Alcohol-Related Harm in Central Australia. 

Project purpose and my role: Co-CI for this cross-Faculty, multi-institution project, to provide world-first knowledge of the impact of three key policy changes which primarily affect First Nations people living in Central Australia: the removal of the Minimum Unit Price in the NT, the removal of restrictions on takeaway alcohol outlet trading hours, and the 2022 cessation of the Stronger Futures Act. I am leading the stakeholder interview and community engagement component of the project.

Project due to commence in April 2026

2024 - 2027: Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General: Safety and Justice for Victim-Survivors of Sexual Violence Project: $1.3m government-funded project (after successful competitive tender):

Project purpose: Co-lead for the successful tender and co-Lead CI for this high-priority three-phase project, with a cross-Faculty team from SHSS, and the Schools of Psychology, Nursing, and Education. The innovative project is iteratively co-designing and evaluating an integrated victim advocacy model – with place-based pilots supporting and informing the statewide implementation.

The funding is part of a five-year commitment by the Queensland Government to implement the recommendations of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce: Hear Her Voice. 

Lead-CI for phase 3: to implement the statewide roll out of the model.

Progress/Impact: Extensive community consultations completed. Three key reports delivered to the Queensland Government:

• Blueprint for the design of a pilot for a victim advocacy model and integrated response to sexual assault
• Victim advocacy model and integrated response to sexual assault: Blueprint (Interim) model
• Service models for supporting victim-survivors of sexual violence: implications for integrating Queensland responses to sexual assault

These reports provide a critical evidence-based foundation to understand victim-survivor advocacy and support.

The change of State Government in late 2025 led to a new direction for the support of victim-survivors. The three submitted reports are expected to inform ongoing model and evaluation design, and any future pilot procurement scope, approach, and supporting processes. 

2025 -> Criminology Employability Project. Faculty Research Project Development Grant: $10,000

Project purpose and my role: Brought in to support and advise this Faculty of Arts & Education research development scheme funded project to explore the motivations, aspirations, and career expectations of criminology students across Australia.

Progress/Impact: Project ongoing. Findings to be reflected within the Deakin Criminology program to improve retention and employment outcomes. DUHREC approved, survey and analysis complete. Five papers developed, four under peer review with Q1 journal, one published in the Q1 Journal of Criminal Justice Education: What Now? Perceptions and Expectations of Career Preparedness among Criminology Students in Australia

Abstract submitted to the present key findings at the ANZSOC Conference in December 2026.

2024 -> Nuisance Driving and other Anti-Social Behaviours - collaborative cross-jurisdictional project (unfunded):

Project purpose and my role: I am co-leading this innovative project with UK scholar, A/P Vicky Heap and an SGF funded ECR RA, that brings together and expands key aspects of our respective research examining discretionary powers to punish. The project includes the development of open-source mapping tools to explore the temporal, jurisdictional, and behavioural scope of civil and criminal orders (in the UK and Australia) issued in response to problematic driving, and a wider collaborative cross-jurisdictional project examining the framing and application of localised discretionary powers.

Progress/Impact: Project ongoing.

2026: Project team expanded, now conducting two locational case studies, and comparing their different approaches to framing, communicating and applying localised discretionary powers. Scoping paper presented at the British Criminology Conference in July 2026, and expected to be presented at the ANZSOC Conference in December 2026.

2025: Our first paper 'Using Public Spaces Protection Orders to put the brakes on car cruising' has been published by the Q1 journal: Policing & Society. Reviewer 1 shared the following feedback: 'Congratulations to the authors, this is one of the best paper submissions I have reviewed in a long time...'

Our proof of concept mapping tool was presented at the British Criminology Conference in July 2025, and at the ANZSOC Conference in December 2025.

2024 -> InTaG - Intergenerational Trauma Aware Geelong:

Project purpose and my role: I am a co-lead of this evolving initiative, in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Psychology, and industry experts representing youth and other key services (e.g. MELI). With funding support from the City of Greater Geelong, the project is building a community of practice to enhance understanding of/responses to trauma across location-specific criminal legal agencies and related services.

Progress/Impact: Project ongoing. March 2025: a two-day symposium brought together +100 academics and practitioners.

2024 - 2026: Trauma-Informed Policing and Corrections

Project purpose and my role: I co-led the development of two key scoping review papers, in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Psychology. This work is linked to InTAG (above), and provides a wider evidence-base to understand current uses of trauma-informed approaches within key criminal-legal processes. One paper has been published in the Q1 Psychology, Crime, & Law:

Trauma-informed policing: a scoping review

A second paper is undergoing revisions following peer review. 

2023 -> School Community Safety Orders - Violence in Schools and Victoria’s ‘vital new measure’ Project (unfunded): 

Project purpose and my role: I am leading this project which builds from my meticulous analysis of new legislation that empowers school principals in Victoria to issue potentially expansive exclusions to adults in response to actual/threatened verbal or physical violence. My 2024 sole authored paper - Victoria’s ‘vital new measure.’ School Community Safety Orders: procedural fairness, accountability, and the potential for heightened risk - was published in the Q1 journal Current Issues in Criminal Justice, and explored the operational, human rights, and child safety implications of the provisions.

Progress/Impact: Project ongoing. With DUHREC approval, the project is drawing from FOI data and engaging with principals nationwide. It has critical implications for teacher safety, and student well-being.

2023 - 2024: Victorian Department of Justice & Community Safety: Risky Driver Behaviour (RIDE) Project: $171K government funded project (after successful competitive tender):

Project purpose and my role: Lead CI for the successful tender and delivery of the mixed methodological project. This high priority government project, with a cross-Faculty team of six from SHSS, and the Schools of Psychology, and three RA’s, was initiated to better understand the experiences, perceptions, and motivations of people who engage in risky driving behaviours - commonly known as 'hoon' driving – and analysed associated harms and mechanisms to prevent and deter hoon driving.

The project comprised six components, and engaged with stakeholders across government departments, local councils, vehicle/driving agencies, youth and emergency services, as well as a large cohort of hoon drivers.

Impact: Project completed successfully, to time and budget. Findings were delivered across two reports and presentations to stakeholders, and to inform ongoing State Government responses to hoon driving.

I am the lead author of three papers that have been published in Q1 journals: European Journal on Criminal Policy & Research; International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy (x2):

If Nuisance Driving is ‘…A Whole Lot of Fun,’ What can be Done to Prevent it?

'We've go bigger fish to fry...' Key Informant Perspectives on Hoon Driving in Victoria, Australia

'Shredded rubber and churned up grass or whatever it might be...' Risk and Harms Associated with Nuisance (Hoon) Driving in Victoria, Australia

2023 – 2024: Trauma Informed/Responsive Sentencing. Faculty Research Project Development Grant: $9,500

Project purpose and my role: With support from a 2023 Faculty grant and a funded HDR RA from the School of Psychology, I led an examination of sentencing transcripts to examine the awareness of, and responses to, offender trauma in the determination of the sentence.

Progress/Impact: Initial project completed. I am the lead author of our paper [Sentencing Sexual Offenders in Victoria: An Analysis of the Presence, Recognition, and Application of Offender Trauma Experiences within Sentencing Pronouncements and Outcomes] published by the world leading Q1 American Journal of Criminal Justice,

Abstract accepted by the Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Conference (Ottawa), July 2025.

2023 - 2024: Scoping review of police perpetrated family violence (PPFV). C2G Internal Grant: $3,000

Project purpose and my role: Lead CI for this Criminology Research Group Faculty funded project, with an ECR RA.

Progress/Impact: Project completed. Our Scoping paper published in early 2025 by the Q1 International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy; generated notable scholarly and practitioner interest, and led to an invitation to join a new Victoria-based advisory group seeking financial redress for victims of PPFV.

2020–2024: ARC Linkage Project - LP180100701: Impacts of Banned Drinkers Register Re-introduction in Northern Territory. The LEARNT (LEarning from Alcohol (Policy) Reforms in the NT: Lead CI Professor Peter Miller, School of Psychology:

Project purpose and my role: The project examined health, policing, community, and other effects associated with differential alcohol policies in the NT. In 2022-24, I was brought into the team to lead the expansive stakeholder interview phase, and led the recruitment and data collection for, and analysis of, 70 in-depth interviews across multiple sectors.

Learning from alcohol (policy) reforms in the Northern Territory (LEARNT): protocol for a mixed-methods study examining the impacts of the banned drinker register, published in BMJ Open

2020 - 2022: WA Police: Evaluation of Police-Imposed Barring and Prohibition Order Provisions: WA Police-funded project (after successful competitive tender - funding amount is commercial-in-confidence)
Project purpose and my role: Lead-CI for the successful tender and the delivery of this mixed-methodological project, with five colleagues from the School of Psychology. I delivered this complex, cross-jurisdictional project to time and budget – successfully navigating the challenges of COVID-19 - and engaged with government, health, and licensed venue stakeholders across WA.

Progress/Impact: Project completed Five reports were presented to WA Police, confirming the best practice nature of these provisions, identifying specific operational refinements, and informing a statewide review of Liquor Act provisions.

I am the lead author of seven published papers, all in Q1 journals:

Police‐issued barring notices in Western Australia: An analysis of the type, seriousness and trajectory of associated offences

‘A little bit of a toothless tiger…’ Police banning powers in Western Australia: key informant perspectives and implications for the administration of justice

Do patron bans reduce crime? An examination of assault offences in Western Australia, before and after the introduction of police-imposed barring notices

Do patron bans affect subsequent behaviour? An examination of pre‐ and post‐ban offending for barring notice and prohibition order recipients in Western Australia

Key informant perspectives on the enforcement of police-imposed barring notices and prohibition orders in Western Australia

How long should a patron ban be: an examination of police-imposed barring notice records in Western Australia

An Examination of Community Awareness and Understanding of Patron Banning Provisions in Western Australia: Implications for Policy Development and Success

2018 - 2023: Policing and Firearms. Support provided through various School funding schemes ($14,000 in total)

Project purpose and my role: I co-led this series of groundbreaking evidence-led comparative examinations of police militarization and the routine carriage of firearms, with Deakin Criminology colleague Dr Richard Evans. Three linked projects built from our earlier published research exploring gun use and mental health issues in Britain, the USA, and Australia.

Progress/Impact: Three projects completed. Three high impact co-authored journal papers and a 2020 co-authored book – Do Police Need Guns? – were followed by an international collection for which I was lead editor - Policing & Firearms: New Perspectives and Insights - published in 2023.

This body of work generated ongoing international media interest.

Edited Volume:

Policing & Firearms: New Perspectives and Insights

Book:

Do police need guns? Policing and firearms: past, present and future

Journal Papers:

Do Police need guns? The nexus between routinely armed police and safety

Primed and ready: does arming police increase safety? Preliminary findings

2018 - 2021: Patron and Police Banning: project completed

Project purpose and my role: This detailed examination of legislation, published data, and police data explored the use and scrutiny of provisions to prohibit and exclude - in response to anti-social, disorderly, and/or violent behaviours - across Australian jurisdictions.

Progress/Impact: Project completed, in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Psychology and a partnership Victoria Police. Two journal papers were published from this work.

Community awareness of patron banning in Australia: a brief report

Do patron bans act as a deterrent to future anti-social offending? An analysis of banning and offending data from Victoria, Australia

2016 – 2020: ARC Linkage Project: The QUeensland Alcohol-related violence and Night-Time Economy Monitoring (QUANTEM Project): Lead CI Professor Peter Miller, School of Psychology:

Project purpose and my role: In response to long-standing community concern, the Queensland Government introduced the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence legislation in 2016-17. The legislation included 2am last drinks state-wide (or 3am last drinks in Safe Night Precincts) and ‘oneway-doors’ (lockouts). This project evaluated the effects of these policy measures, with project partners including the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education and Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.

I was brought into the team to lead the development of three journal papers drawing from the stakeholder interviews, all published in Q1/Q2 journals:

Mandatory Networked ID Scanners in Nightlife Precincts Across Queensland, Australia: Key Stakeholder Perspectives on Policy and Practice

Key informant perspectives on 3 am last drinks legislation in Queensland, Australia

Patron banning policy and practice in Queensland, Australia: key informant perspectives

2016: Sentencing Outcomes in Regional, Rural and Metropolitan Victoria:

Project purpose and my role: Supported by the Deakin Centre for Rural and Regional Law and Justice, and in collaboration with Professor Mirko Bagaric (Swinburne University), I led this analysis of an extensive dataset of high volume offences to inform a data driven examination of the 'instinctive synthesis' in sentencing - and its effect/s on principles and expectations of sentencing parity.

Progress/Impact: Project completed. I was the lead author of three papers, all published in A-rated law journals:

Sentencing Inconsistencies: A Case Study

An empirical analysis of sentencing outcomes for assault offences in Victoria and the implications for the sentencing methodology

Inconsistencies in sentencing of theft offenders in Victoria: implications for the 'instinctive synthesis'

2016 - 2022: Balancing discretionary police powers and individual rights:

Project purpose and my role: I led the development, extension, and application of my doctoral research across three separate but linked projects. The projects comprised detailed analysis of policy, legislative provisions, and published data, and interviews with Magistrates and people affected by discretionary police powers.

Progress/Impact: Three projects completed. I am the sole author of eight journal papers published from this work, the lead author of three papers, and sole author of a book - all of which supported my emerging reputation as a criminal-legal scholar and an expert in civil/criminal provisions:

Sole author:

‘Is a 24-hour ban such a bad thing?’ Police-imposed banning notices: compatible with human rights or a diminution of due process?

Victoria’s banning notice provisions: parliamentary, procedural and individual vulnerabilities

Upholding whose right? Discretionary police powers to punish, collective 'pre-victimisation and the dilution of individual rights