Development of Crime and the Criminal Justice System in Australia

Abstract

Criminal justice systems in Australia have been markedly shaped by policies of colonial governments. This chapter charts the historical evolution of two key criminal justice agencies - the courts and police - over the early periods of colonisation and sketches Significant developments, geographic differences and discrepancies. The first part of the chapter focuses primarily on courts and law in early New South Wales as an example of the singular and distinctive nature of the colony as an experiment in penology and colonisation. Under the vast and old institution of criminal 'transportation', tens of thousands of mostly working-class men and women were exiled to the New South Wales colony for a variety of capital and non-capital crimes under the 'Bloody Code'. New South Wales was thus populated by British criminal law, which had a significant impact on the structure of the judiciary and courts during this initial period of European settlement from 1788 to 1823. The second section of the chapter explores the development of the centralisation of police forces, mainly in Victoria and New South Wales, in response to growing fears about the criminal populations, Indigenous resistance to colonisation, and unrest within the goldfields within these two areas. In particular, the issues facing rural police and communities during the period of the 1780s to 1890s are considered. Owing to the geography of Australia, the initial construction of criminal justice systems in both New South Wales and Victoria was based on location, rather than centralisation, with each individual area attempting to govern itself within a broader set of English rules. This random approach led to a number of problems and barriers for law enforcement, particularly with the policing of the colonies.