The Long-term Effect of the NSW Drug Court on Recidivism

By Don Weatherburn, Steve Yeong, Suzanne Poynton, Nikky Jones and Michael Farrell

The Drug Court has been in operation in New South Wales since 1999. It is reserved for drug dependant individuals residing in Western or South Western Sydney who have (or intend to) plead guilty to a non-violent summary offence and are likely to receive a prison sentence. Participation in the Drug Court involves intensive supervision and monitoring by the court, frequent drug testing, sanctioning for non-compliance and treatment for drug dependency. The current study extends an earlier evaluation of the NSW Drug Court undertaken by Weatherburn et al. (2008). It aims to assess whether the Drug Court has any long-term positive effect on re-offending. Specifically, it compares individuals accepted into the Drug Court with individuals referred to but not accepted onto the program across five outcomes:
1. Time to first new offence of any type;
2. Time to first new person offence;
3. Time to first new property offence;
4. Time to first new drug offence;
5. Total number of reconvictions after referral to the Drug Court.

Sydney:  NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2020. 16p.