Research into crime and justice in the Pacific Islands region over the past few decades has largely lacked explicit engagement with the discipline of criminology. As a result, new criminological insights in relation to crime, violence and insecurity have not been systematically considered in the Pacific context, and nor have Pacific generated insights into crime and justice informed broader disciplinary developments. This panel marks a new initiative to make connections between criminology theory as it has been developing in both the global North and – increasingly – the global South and developments in the Pacific, particularly Melanesia. The panel will identify and discuss some of the major themes and priorities that could underpin Pacific criminology, drawing on several ongoing criminological research projects. It will address questions such as (1) How are categories of crime developed and responded to in the region?; (2) What sources of insecurity exist in the region and how are these changing?; and (3) Who are the providers of security and justice in the region and how is this achieved?

Chair: Sinclair Dinnen, Senior Fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU

Speakers: Miranda Forsyth, Associate Professor, Centre for Restorative Justice, RegNet, ANU

Fiona Hukula, Program Leader Senior Research Fellow, Building Safer Communities Program, Research Division, PNG National Research Institute

Vanessa Stone, Federal Agent and Operational Policing Advisor, Australian Federal Police