CRIS Conference 5-7 October 2021 | Online

Paul Giannasi OBE, Police Hate Crime Policy Lead, National Police Chief's Council

The racially motivated murder of black student Stephen Lawrence, in 1993, was a watershed moment for policing in the UK. When the subsequent inquiry found that the police force was "institutionally racist", there were major changes to policing, and community approaches to racism.

Paul has 30 years of policing experience and led the cross-government hate crime programme for 12 years, where he was responsible for creating new relationships between police, the state and communities to combat hate. Currently the national Police Hate Crime Policy Lead, In this keynote address Paul explains how police and community use “Critical Incident Gold Groups” to set action plans in response to serious incidents at home and overseas. Collaboration between government, nongovernment and academics has lifted the quality of existing data about hate crime, hate incidents and hate speech, to the benefit of all parties and most importantly, of UK communities. The meaningful, trusting relationships between police and non-government organisations have been formalised in Information Sharing Agreements enabling partners to tailor solutions to critical societal problems.

CRIS Conference 5-7 October 2021 | Online

Ro Allen, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission

Session Chair: Dr Matteo Vergani, Deakin University

Ro commenced their role as Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner on 1 June 2021. Ro brings more than 25 years of experience in community services, governance and social justice, and has a deep commitment to equality and a broad experience in strategic advocacy. In this panel, Ro will discuss their plans to empower existing – and establish new – collaborations with communities, and the Commission’s plans to tackle hate against a wide range of target groups.

CRIS Conference 5-7 October 2021 | Online

Dr Philip Jefferies, Dalhousie University

Session Chair: Dr Matteo Vergani, Deakin University

Within the growing interest in the study of resilience, there is an increasing interest in measurement. But there are as many different approaches to quantifying resilience as there are ways of conceptualising it. Should we limit ourselves to just a direct assessment of how much a person perceives they can ‘bounce back’ from adversity? Or should we consider specific risk and protective factors that might enable a person or community to demonstrate resilience? And what score must a person or community achieve to be considered ‘resilient’? This discussion provides a review of options for measuring resilience as well as a discussion of their utility in different situations. Contexts include individuals and communities experiencing acute crises as well as ‘everyday’ adversities.

CRIS Conference 5-7 October 2021 | Online

Professor Nicole Asquith, University of Tasmania
Peter Wertheim AM, Executive Council of Australian Jewry
Josh Bull MP, Co-Chair of the Victorian Anti-Racism Taskforce
Session Chair: Professor Greg Barton, Deakin University

In this panel session, moderated by Prof Greg Barton, we will explore why a database of hate behaviours can contribute to advance fairness, equality, respect and understanding. Panellists will include Prof Nicole Asquith, Director of the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies and Secretary of the Australian Hate Crime Network, and Mr Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. The panellists will discuss how a database of hate can be useful to academics, civil society organisations and government.

Dr Matteo Vergani discusses quantitative and qualitative data methods.

Dr Matteo Vergani hosts the discussion: ‘Towards a national system for classifying and recording hate crimes in Australia’ with speakers Senator the Hon Kristina Keneally, Mr Luke Cornelius APM and Race Commissioner Mr Chin Tan.