Responding to the problem of recidivist drink drivers

In September 2013, the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies (TILES) and the University of Tasmania’s Faculty of Law organised an international workshop intended to map pathways in addressing the issue of recidivist drink drivers. One of the main issues identified by key stakeholders was the poor fit of some criminal justice responses to instances of repeat drink driving. As a consequence of the issues arising from the workshop, the TLRI obtained funding from the Solicitor’s Guarantee Fund to examine non-traditional responses to repeat drink driving. The TLRI and TILES also obtained a grant from the Motor Accident Insurance Board (MAIB) Injury Prevention and Management Foundation to construct a profile of recidivist drink driving offenders in Tasmania through an examination of records held by the Magistrates Court, Community Corrections and Tasmania Police.