This is an edited version of a speech I gave at the 9th International Criminal Justice Conference in Melbourne in 2019.

The past ten years have seen rapid rises in incarceration and its attendant costs, right across Australia. These basic facts are becoming more widely-understood, and this is, in turn, changing the politics of criminal justice in Australia. Slowly, reform is becoming more politically viable. My purpose here is to describe why this is happening and how we can help it along.

Since 2016, the Institute of Public Affairs Criminal Justice Project has put out nine research reports, two briefs for parliamentarians, and a book chapter; we have met with more than 20 MPs and their offices; and had dozens of opinion pieces and media mentions. The IPA is Australia’s leading centre-right think tank, and over this time we have been the loudest voice on the conservative side of politics in calling for a rethink of criminal justice policy. Our project started with one basic question: whether Australian jurisdictions are incarcerating too many people unnecessarily. Our interest in the topic was inspired by work done by similar institutions in the United States, and by a suspicion that criminal justice has escaped the kind of sceptical scrutiny that we normally apply to government spending and action. More deeply, our work in this area connects to our belief that society should have a shared aspiration for individuals to live dignified, self-sustaining, meaningful lives.