Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research > Publications & Evaluations
CJB169

Author Neil Donnelly, Lily Trimboli and Suzanne Poynton
Published May 2013
Report Type Crime and Justice Bulletin No. 169
Subject Court processes and delay; Recidivism / Re-offending; Statistical methods and modelling; Evaluation reports
Keywords Court Referral of Eligible Defendants into Treatment (CREDIT), re-offending, court-based intervention, propensity score matching, intention-to-treat, hazard ratio

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Summary

Aim

To determine whether being referred to the Court Referral of Eligible Defendants into Treatment (CREDIT) pilot program reduces re-offending.

Method

Using propensity score matching, adult defendants referred to the CREDIT program, who had their matter finalised in court by 30 June 2011, were matched to control defendants on a large number of socio-demographic, index offence and prior offence characteristics. Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted separately for the two CREDIT pilot sites of Tamworth (n = 261) and Burwood (n = 159). Re-offending was measured until 30 June 2012.

Results

No significant differences were found between defendants referred to CREDIT and their matched controls in the proportion re-offending within 12 months, the number of court re-appearances within 12 months or the time to the first proven re-offence.

Conclusion

These results suggest that defendants referred to the CREDIT program are as likely to re-offend as defendants who are dealt with through the normal court process. However, these results may reflect the very small number of defendants referred to the program over the study period, the short follow-up period involved and the inability to match treatment and control defendants on key variables related to offending (e.g. drug use, mental health issues).

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