Expert takes Queensland truancy trial to the world

The University of Queensland’s Professor Lorraine Mazerolle last night told an international gathering of more than 500 criminologists how a five-year trial successfully reduced truancy among at-risk youth in Queensland.

Her lecture to The Stockholm Criminology Symposium was titled The Ripple Effects of Police Experimentation: How one trial can save the lives of many.

It explained the results of the five-year ABILITY Truancy Trial, a collaborative evaluation of a trial aimed at reducing truancy in at-risk youth.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention invited Professor Mazerolle to Stockholm to deliver the annual Jerry Lee Lecture.

Professor Mazerolle is the Policing and Security Program Leader at UQ’s Institute for Social Science Research, a lead researcher for the Life Course Centre and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow.

“It’s a privilege to be invited to present the lecture on the ABILITY trial and a timely way to present our high-calibre results to this critical audience on the international stage,” she said.

“It’s acknowledgement of the significance, value and relevance of our criminology research at UQ.”

Project ABILITY is a joint initiative between the Queensland Police Service, the Department of Education and Training, and UQ, with the experimental evaluation funded by an ARC Laureate Fellowship.

“In this project, police and schools form a partnership to discourage at-risk youth from embarking on a downward spiral of school truancy and entering the criminal justice system,” Professor Mazerolle said.

“Police and school representatives meet with parents and truanting young people to explore the underlying reasons for truancy and to clearly communicate parents’ legal responsibilities to ensure their children attend school.

“Participants develop an ‘action agreement’ to address the causes of truancy and meet again about six months later to review and recognise real accomplishment of agreed actions.”

Professor Mazerolle said the randomised field trial tested the tenets and impact of third-party policing and partnerships in reducing youth truancy and crime problems in Queensland.

“The escalation of police experiments – like the ABILITY Trial – may indicate an emerging appetite for police to consider innovative ways to control crime and disorder problems,” she said.

Professor Mazerolle leads an expert team of criminology researchers.

She has strong collaborative links with the QPS and policing bodies internationally. Her annual police masterclasses promote better policing through evidence-based practices.

Jerry Lee was the initial donor of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology. He committed his life to improving the global community through the promotion of social science research into the causes of social problems like poverty and crime.

Media: Honor Morton, +61 7 3365 6072, honor.morton@uq.edu.au.