{"id":110,"date":"2020-10-07T11:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/judicialresearch\/?page_id=110"},"modified":"2021-02-10T09:40:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T23:10:35","slug":"magistrates-research-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/judicialresearchproject\/magistrates-research-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Magistrates Research Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Magistrates Research Project<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Since 2000, Magistrates Courts in Australia have been the focus of a national, multi-year, empirical research project being conducted by Matthew Flinders Distinguished\u00a0Professor Sharyn Roach Anleu<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Emerita Professor Kathy Mack<\/a>\u00a0of Flinders University, in collaboration with Australian magistrates and local courts and the Association of Australian Magistrates (AAM).<\/p>\n

Magistrates courts are the largest and arguably the most important courts in Australia.\u00a0 Over 90% of all civil and criminal matters are initiated and finalised in magistrates courts.\u00a0 Most Australians who have any contact with a court will do so in a magistrates court. However, many aspects of the work of these courts, and the magistrates who preside in them, are significantly under-researched.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the Project\u00a0addressed three main research questions:<\/p>\n

\u00b0\u00a0\u00a0 Who are the magistrates?
\n\u00b0\u00a0 \u00a0What is their everyday work?
\n\u00b0\u00a0 \u00a0What is the relationship between magistrates\u2019 courts and social services?<\/p>\n

These questions were formulated after\u00a0consultation\u00a0with magistrates in all states and territories, in 2000-2001, as well as other stakeholders, to ensure that the research addressed key challenges and would produce valuable insights.<\/p>\n

Several major research strategies were undertaken to answer these questions:<\/p>\n