DRUG COURT GIVEN MORE TIME TO PROVE ITS PROGRAMS WORK

The State Government will operate its controversial Drug Court for another
two years, despite a 40 per cent drop-out rate by those who appear before
it, and may let violent offenders use it.

The Attorney-General, Bob Debus, yesterday said the extension was based on
a three-year evaluation which found that putting drug-dependent repeat
offenders through a treatment program was $8 a day cheaper than jailing them.

The combined evaluation by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and
the University of Technology, Sydney also found those in the program took
longer to re-offend and to record their first drug offence after completing
the program than those unable to gain a place.

Those in a treatment group of 300 who completed the program also recorded
fewer new offences than those rejected during treatment and a control group
of 200 deemed eligible but not admitted to the program. The cost per day of
placing someone on the program was $144, compared with $152 a day for
jailing them.

The bureau's director, Don Weatherburn, told a conference in Sydney
yesterday that while "graduation" from the program was no guarantee a
participant would not re-offend or relapse, the saving to the community
justified further research to improve the program's success rate.

The court, established in February 1999 on a trial basis to see if its
alternative approach could lower criminal re-offending by drug users, has
been criticised in the past for its high drop-out rate.

Dr Weatherburn said improved identification of those likely to complete the
program successfully would increase its chances of success.

"The drop-out rate is a concern, but the fact is it's $10 cheaper to put an
addict through a Drug Court program than it is to lock them up for the same
offence," he said.

"If people could find a better way of identifying those who are going to
succeed on the program and terminating those who are not going to make
headway, it would be much more cost-effective."

Senior Drug Court judge Gay Murrell welcomed the report but agreed further
research was needed to identify offenders most likely to benefit.

"The findings in the report will assist the court to implement improvements
to its processes," Justice Murrell said.

"[Further research] may enable the court to focus its resources on those
offenders most likely to benefit from a program."

Mr Debus said the Government was considering a number of changes to the
Drug Court Act which would allow for participation in the program by
violent criminals, extending the catchment area outside of Sydney, and
encouraging participation by Aboriginal offenders.

The NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, who gave the conference's opening address,
drew attention to the fact that Caucasian males made up the bulk of
participants in the program.

She said the court had the potential to help more women, since more than 80
per cent of women in NSW jails were there for drug-related offences, and
Aborigines, who represented only 10 per cent of participants despite being
over-represented in the justice system.