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The Northern Territory (NT) has the highest rates of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) in Australia. Although we know that alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and trauma both contribute to DFSV in the NT, some specifics remain unknown. This paper aims to (a) describe the extent of AOD involvement in criminally serious DFSV, (b) describe the volume of trauma experienced by convicted criminally serious DFSV offenders, and (c) qualitatively explore the judicial recognition of the intersections between alcohol and trauma. To do this we reviewed Judicial Sentencing Remarks (JSRs) from the Supreme Court of the NT. A content analysis of all DFSV JSRs from July to Dec 2020 was undertaken ( n = 64). A structured coding instrument was developed to extract quantitative and qualitative variables through repeated reviews by multiple authors. Descriptive statistics regarding demographics, number of significant traumatic events experienced, and AOD involvement were generated. The qualitative data from which these statistics were generated was used to explore the interplay between trauma and AOD involvement. The majority of offenders had experienced at least one form of trauma. The social determinants of health underpinned a significant amount of this trauma, with housing, poverty, and unemployment frequently described. The use of alcohol as a maladaptive coping mechanism was explicitly recognised. There was frequent judicial recognition of the intersections between trauma, alcohol, and violence, however addressing trauma as an essential part of rehabilitation processes was rare. Trauma and AOD use were widespread among convicted DFSV offenders, with alcohol involved in the majority of incidents. Further research is required to understand the bio-psycho-social factors involved in the relationship between trauma, alcohol, and DFSV. Systematic piloting and trialling of interventions is necessary to determine what approaches are effective for preventing DFSV and reducing recidivism for people with intersecting experiences of trauma and AOD concerns.

IntroductionThe Banned Drinker Register (BDR) was reintroduced in the Northern Territory (NT) in September 2017. The BDR is a supply reduction measure and involves placing people who consume alcohol at harmful levels on a register prohibiting the purchase, possession and consumption of alcohol. The current study aims to evaluate the impacts of the reintroduction of the BDR, in the context of other major alcohol policy initiatives introduced across the NT such as Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors and a minimum unit price for alcohol of US$1.30 per standard drink.Methods and analysesThe Learning from Alcohol (policy) Reforms in the Northern Territory project will use a mixed-methods approach and contain four major components: epidemiological analysis of trends over time (outcomes include health, justice and social welfare data); individual-level data linkage including those on the BDR (outcomes include health and justice data); qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the NT (n≥50); and qualitative interviews among people who are, or were previously, on the BDR, as well as the families and communities connected to those on the BDR (n=150). The impacts of the BDR on epidemiological data will be examined using time series analysis. Linked data will use generalised mixed models to analyse the relationship between outcomes and exposures, utilising appropriate distributions. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis.Ethics and disseminationEthics approvals have been obtained from NT Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), Central Australia HREC and Deakin University HREC. In addition to peer-reviewed publications, we will report our findings to key organisational, policy, government and community stakeholders via conferences, briefings and lay summaries.

Judicial sentencing remarks (JSRs) have been utilised by several researchers, as a publicly available data source, to explore topics such as alcohol and other drug involvement in intimate partner homicide; the use of therapeutic jurisprudence; narratives of mitigation for Aboriginal offenders; and the identification and impact of trauma in the sentencing of homicide offenders (to name a few). There is inconsistency in the existing literature regarding the methodology for identifying offenders as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Appropriate and correct identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system is important because of the distinct differences in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience the criminal justice system, including sentencing and punishment. We retrospectively developed a manual algorithm to identify offenders and victims as ‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander’, ‘non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander’ or ‘Unknown’. This paper provides an overview of the development and the application of the algorithm and discusses the importance of transparency in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification processes when using JSRs as a data source.

IntroductionConducting ethical and high-quality health research is crucial for informing public health policy and service delivery to reduce the high and inequitable burden of disease experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ethical guidelines and principles specifically for health research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been developed for use since 1987. However, there has been limited examination of how these are being applied to the conduct of research.Methods and analysisMurru Minyawill be a large-scale national study to examine the implementation of ethical processes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. A mixed-methods design will be used in fourbaarra(steps). The first threebaarrawill collect knowledge, experiences and wisdom from three key groups: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, research academics, and Human Research Ethics Committees using online surveys, yarning, and semistructured interviews. This knowledge will inform the finalbaarraof developing a set of practical recommendations to support ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research into the future.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval for this research project has been granted by National, State and Territory Human Research Ethics Committees. This research has been developed in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation representatives, Aboriginal community members, the National Health Leadership Forum, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research team. The knowledge translation plan will be integrated and revised throughout the project as partnerships and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities continue. All findings will be shared with peak Aboriginal research bodies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in ways that are meaningful to them.