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27 Aust. & N.Z. J. Criminology 1 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/anzjc27 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Ross Homel* I am delighted to welcome Kathy Laster back as Guest Editor of the Journal, and am confident that this issue on The Lure of Relevance will have as much impact as Kathy's previous volume on History and Crime.1 On behalf of all readers I would like to thank Kathy for the considerable effort she has put into the production of this issue. Readers will also notice that this is the first issue of the Journal in its new, more modern format. The new style brings it into line with the other journals published by Butterworths, and also should provide a crisper, more readable product with wider market appeal. It is ironic that at a time when many criminologists in this country are exploring with renewed vigour the whole question of 'policy relevance', the major government sponsored criminological organisation in this country is under dire threat. Most readers will be aware that the Federal Government has recently completed a Federal Law Enforcement Arrangements Review. Although not a law enforcement body, the Australian Institute of Criminology has been included in this review. The outcome has been disastrous for the AIC and, in the opinion of many, for Australian criminology. In a nutshell, the FLEA review recommended a one third cut in the budget of the AIC and a loss of independent status as an autonomous statutory authority. It seems that the intention is to create a new structure to oversee Federal Law Enforcement, with the Institute being included as a small unit within this new bureaucracy. The Criminology Research Act will be repealed, and the Institute will become nothing more than a research arm of the Federal Government. The consequences of these moves are clear. At least one half of the Institute's staff will be lost, its ability to provide impartial policy advice will be completely eroded, it will lose most of its credibility in the international arena, the John Barrie Memorial Library will be broken up or mothballed, and national coordination and statistical activities such as crime prevention programs, conferences, and the correctional data base may disappear or be absorbed into sectors of government with little criminological expertise. Sadly, the notion of the cooperative federalism which underpinned the establishment of the institute seems to have been forgotten. We face the spectre of a discipline which no longer has a clear national focus, at least in terms of its interface with government and social policy. At the time of writing (the last week of March), it seems very likely that Federal Cabinet will give its seal of approval to the restructuring process, despite all the protests that have been lodged. Should all last minute rescue attempts prove vain, it will become a matter of great importance over the next few years for the Society and its members to * Griffith University. 1

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