SA Government logo. Link to Ministers' website
OCSAR Title Graphic

Staff

All current staff members are listed on this page and are linked to a more detailed section showing contact details, a profile, current activities and publications.

 

Ingrid Ahmer - Assistant Database Manager/Programmer

Ph: (08) 8207 2164 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

B.A. (Maths), Flinders
Grad Dip Computer Science, Adelaide
BSc (Hons) Computer Science, Adelaide
M.Eng (Res) Telecommunications, UniSA

Ingrid is a member of the Data Management Team that maintains OCSAR’s information and database systems and provides criminal justice data to researchers both within the office and externally. She joined the Office in June 2004 and has a professional background in computing and mathematics. Her computing experience encompasses work in government, industry, insurance, academic and research organisations. Prior to commencing with OCSAR, Ingrid performed applied mathematics research at University of Adelaide.

Ingrid maintains OCSAR’s automated systems to produce detailed reports for a wide range of geographical areas in South Australia. These reports provide a comprehensive analysis of data relating to demography, recorded offences and apprehensions and are also used to provide briefings on local crime trends for Community Cabinet meetings. Ingrid is currently involved in the redevelopment of OCSAR’s annual Crime and Justice reports as XML tables for dissemination on the web.

Back to Top

 

Graham Bath - Manager, CARS

Ph: (08) 8207 1728 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Associate Diploma in Computer & Information Science, University of South Australia, 1994
Postgraduate Certificate in Spatial Information Science, University of Adelaide, 2000

Graham began work on the National Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System (CARS) project at OCSAR in July 2000. Graham's role is to manage all aspects of the CARS project. Graham has Information Technology industry experience through contract and permanent positions in both Adelaide and Canberra. More specifically he has experience in data warehousing (Centrelink) and client/server application development (WorkCover SA), and as a business analyst and report writer for a large chemical manufacturing plant (Penrice Soda).

Graham is responsible for managing CARS and further development and maintenance of the CARS web applications. He is also supervising the major project of migrating to a new database platform for the processing, storage, analysis and reporting on CARS data.

Back to Top

 

Carol Castle - Database Manager

Ph: (08) 8207 1575 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Carol has been the Database Manager for the Office of Crime Statistics and Research since late 1997 and manages the Data Management Team. Before that, she managed the Lower Court databases for the Office.  She also manages the Law Codes and Offence Codes applications on the Justice Information System on behalf of South Australia’s criminal justice community. The Law Codes and Offence Codes applications are a centralised mainframe based system of representing and classifying offences.

Carol is responsible for OCSAR’s data collections and also maintains a comprehensive Offender/Victim based tracking system, using data supplied by a number of criminal justice and related agencies in South Australia. Most of the data held by OCSAR are extracted from operational systems, downloaded onto a PC-based system managed by the Office of Crime Statistics and Research.  This PC-based system is used to service OCSAR’s core functions, involving statistical monitoring and analysis, research and evaluation.  The Data Management Team also maintains a suite of ancillary products to provide a context for the interpretation of criminal justice data.  These products include a regular report on Major Legislative Change and a significants events register.

Publications

JANCO classification system

Restraining Orders and Stalking Offences in 1995 and 1996

Reports

Explanations for the High Proportion of SA matters classified by the ABS as withdrawn in 2001/02

Drink Driving Report 1: Offences finalised in the Magistrates Court of South Australia, 1995

Back to Top

Amaya Gilson - Research Officer, CARS

Ph: (08) 8204 9569 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Bachelor of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide
First Class Honours Degree in Social Anthropology, University of Adelaide

Amaya began working in the Office of Crime Statistics in June 2008 on the National Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System (CARS) project. Prior to this Amaya worked as a Graduate Intelligence Analyst for SAPOL.

Amaya is involved in a number of regular research projects relating to motor vehicle theft, both in South Australia and nationally. These include the provision of data to clients and the production of quarterly and yearly reports. Amaya is a current member of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators.

Amaya is also working on a paper examining motor vehicle theft and road crashes in Queensland between 2000/2001-2005/2006.

Back to Top

Michelle Hayes - Acting Research Manager

Ph: (08) 8207 2157 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), University of Wollongong
Masters (Criminology), University of Queensland
PhD - near completion (Criminology), University of Queensland

Michelle is currently employed with the Office of Crime Statistics and Research as Acting Research Manager. She has a Masters in Social Science (Criminology) and is in the final stages of completing her PhD in Criminology at the University of Queensland. She has previously worked as a Senior Advisor with the Queensland Corrective Service, a Senior Researcher with BoysTown, and as a Research Officer with the University of Queensland (Criminology) and the Queensland Police Service. Michelle has also served as a Youth Justice Convenor with the Queensland Communities Department.

Masters Thesis (Submitted to the University of Queensland April 2003). "The Individual and Joint Effects of Age, Gender and Peers on Youth Crime."

Publications

Seminar & Conference Papers

"Young People and the Relationship between Delinquency and Attitudes towards Risk Taking Behaviour." Presented at the Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, 24th September, 2007.

"The Attitudes of Young People toward Police and Risk Taking and the Associated Significance of their Relationship with Parents and Peers." Presented at The Australian Sociology Association Conference, 5th December 2006.

"Young People and their Perceptions of Policing: The Impact of Race and Ethnicity." Presented at the Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, 7th February, 2006.

Back to Top

Hedyeh Hedayati - Senior Research Officer, CARS

Ph: (08) 8207 1729 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Bachelor of Biotechnology (Honours), Adelaide
Graduate Diploma in Public Health, Adelaide

Hedyeh joined OCSAR as a Senior Research Officer in December 2007 with the Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System (CARS) project. Hedyeh previously worked in the Department of Public Health, University of Adelaide and has completed her PhD in Medicine.

Hedyeh is involved in a number of research projects involving motor vehicle theft in South Australia and nationally. She is currently working on a study to assess the relationship between area level socio-economic status and motor vehicle theft in Australia. Hedyeh also assists with the CARS quarterly and yearly reports and the provision of data to clients both internal and external.

Publications

Hedayati, H. (2008). Commercial and farm vehicle theft in urban and rural Australia. Southern Rural Sociology, vol. 23, no. 2, pp 54-77.

Ziersch, E and Hedayati, H. Road crashes involving stolen vehicles in New South Wales: 1999/00-2006/07. Proceedings of the conference of High Risk Road Users. Motivating behaviour change: what works and what doesn't work? Brisbane, Australia: Australasian College of Road Safety and Travelsafe Committee, 18-19 September 2008.

Back to Top

Nerida Langley - Senior Research/Evaluation Officer

Ph: (08) 8207 1735 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Bachelor of Arts (Legal Studies/ Criminology), Flinders University
First Class Honours Degree in Criminal Justice, Flinders University

Nerida is currently employed with the Office of Crime Statistics and Research as a Senior Research and Evaluation Officer where she is undertaking several projects with the evaluation team.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies and Criminal Justice. As part of these studies she took part in the European Union criminology exchange program titled 'Governance and Security: Challenges to Policing in the 21st Century' where she studied in France and England and completed research on the policing of urban riots. Her honours research in Criminal Justice focused on human trafficking and victims of crime.

Back to Top

Jayne Marshall - Acting Evaluation Manager

Ph: (08) 8207 1785 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

B.A. (Politics) Adelaide, 1986
Master of Social Science (Applied Social Research), University of South Australia, 1998

Jayne has been employed in the Office of Crime Statistics since 1996. She has completed research on a wide range of criminal justice issues, including drink driving, stalking, zero tolerance, home invasion, remand in custody, gambling related crime and chronic youth offending.

As Acting Evaluation Manager since December 2007 Jayne has been involved in projects relating to specialist courts and Aboriginal Conferencing as well as criminal justice responses to youth offending and domestic/family violence.

Publications

Juvenile Offending Trajectories: A South Australian study

Criminal Courts South Australia 2003-04

National crime statistics: An update 2003. The South Australian perspective

A profile of remandees in custody in South Australia on 30 June 2002

Male Custodial Remand in South Australia

National crime statistics: An update 2001. The South Australian perspective

Drug related property crime in South Australia in 2000

Stalking in South Australia

Recorded Crime

National Crime Statistics: An update 2000. The South Australian Perspective

Crime and Safety in South Australia: Key findings from the ABS 2000 Survey. April 2001

Robbery in a dwelling or home invasion?

Home Invasion in South Australia

Zero Tolerance Policing

Higher Criminal Court Statistics 1996/97 - The South Australian Perspective

National Crime Statistics - An Update 1997 - The South Australian Perspective

Restraining Orders and Stalking Offences in 1995 and 1996

National Crime Statistics

Reports

Gambling Related Crime in South Australia A report prepared for the Independent Gambling Authority

Aboriginal People and the Criminal Justice System.  Report No 1

Drink Driving Report 1: Offences finalised in the Magistrates Court of South Australia, 1995

Remand in Custody: A statistical overview of custodial remand in South Australia.
This report, released in December 1998 is available in printed form for $11.00 (includes GST, Postage and Handling).

Seminar & Conference Papers

Juvenile offending trajectories - A South Australian study.
Presented at 'Understanding and responding to chronic youth offending conference' 27 October 2005

Back to Top

Travis Murphy - Senior Research/Evaluation Officer

Ph: (08) 8207 1692 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

B.Man (Marketing)
M.Bus (Research)

Travis began working with the Office of Crime Statistics and Research in 2009 and has focussed on establishing an evaluation framework for cross border justice initiatives. Prior to joining OCSAR Travis held positions with boutique and international marketing and communications research organisations specialising in beverage, education and government sectors.

Back to Top

Sophie Ransom (nee Kriven) - Senior Research/Evaluation Officer

Ph: (08) 8207 1727 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

BA(Hons) Psychology
Master in Public Health

Sophie began working with the Office of Crime Statistics and Research in May 2005 on the National CARS (Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System) Project, but since February 2009 has worked in the OCSAR Evaluation team. Sophie has previously worked in the Tobacco Control Research and Evaluation Program at The Cancer Council South Australia and in the Dental Statistics and Research Unit at the University of Adelaide.

Sophie currently works on the ongoing evaluation of the South Australian Police Drug Diversion Initiative (PDDI) and a number of other evaluation projects.

Publications

Kriven, S. and Ziersch, E. (2007).  New car security and shifting vehicle theft patterns in Australia.  Security Journal, vol. 20, no. 2, pp 111-122.

A profile of vehicle theft-related arson in New South Wales and South Australia

Light commercial vehicles stolen in Australia, October 2004 - September 2005

Back to Top

Paul Thomas - Manager, OCSAR and Director, National CARS Project

Ph: (08) 8207 1669 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

B.Sc. (Hons), Adelaide

Paul commenced work with OCSAR in 1990 as a Research Officer with responsibility for maintaining and analysing the Office's Magistrates Court Data collection systems. In 1994 he established the South Australian CARS (Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System) Project and in 1999 managed the expansion of the CARS database to a national project with funding from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council Inc.

In 2002 Paul was appointed Deputy Director of the Office and from October 2006 to February 2008 he served as Acting Director. Following a divisional restructure in 2008 the title of Director was changed to Manager.

Paul is a member of the South Australian Vehicle Theft Reduction Committee (1995 - onwards), and has been a member of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) since 1996. He has served on the Australasian Branch board from 1997 - 2008 including serving two years as Australasian Branch President and a member of the International Board of IAATI in 2003-2005. In 2008 Paul awarded honorary life membership of the Australasian Branch of IAATI.

As well as a strong interest in motor vehicle theft issues Paul is heavily involved in OCSAR's statistical monitoring program and in the use or technology to disseminate the work of the office.

Publications

Engine Immobilisers: How effective are they?

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia 2001/2002

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia 2000/2001

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia 1999/2000

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia, 1998: A statistical report from the CARS database

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia, 1997: A statistical report from the CARS database

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia, 1996: A statistical report from the CARS database

Motor Vehicle Theft in South Australia, 1995: A statistical report from the CARS database

S.A. Crime and Safety Survey, 1991: Break and Enter Offences.

Selected Offence Profiles

Robbery in South Australia

National Crime Statistics

Kirby, N.H. and Thomas, P.D. (1989). Choice Inspection and Responding Times, Personality and Individual Differences, 10, pp 1301-1310.

Seminar & Conference Papers

"A profile of motor vehicle theft in South Australia". SAVTRC Seminar, Adelaide, 11 August 2008.

"An overview of CARS vehicle theft research". Australian Institute of Criminology Occassional Seminar, Canberra, 30 January 2007.

"DUMA Analyser". Presentation to the Australian Institute of Criminology, DUMA Technical Workshop, Melbourne, 23-24 November, 2006.

"Analysing vehicle theft issues using CARS". Presentation to Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Strategic Analysis Training Day, Sydney NSW. 16 December 2005.

"Exploring the links between drugs and crime" Presented at Illicit Drugs and Crime: Exploring South Australia's Responses, Adelaide. 9 December 2005.

"Motor Vehicle Theft: data driven policy development". Paper presented to New Zealand Police Service - Vehicle Crime Workshop, Wellington, 17-19 March 2004

"Establishing a National Vehicle Theft Research and Monitoring Collection". Presented at the Australian Institute of Criminology and Australian Bureau of Statistics Conference "Evaluation in Crime and Justice: Trends and Methods", Canberra 24th-25th March 2003.

"Engine Immobilisers: How Effective Are They?" R. Potter and P Thomas. Presented at the 9th IAATI Australasian Branch Conference, Adelaide, March 4 - 6th, 2002.

"Vehicle Theft Statistics - What do they tell us" Presented at the Australian Institute of Criminology and National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council Conference, "Reducing Car Theft: How Low Can We Go?", Adelaide, 30th November - 1st December, 2000. (pdf)

"Tackling Motor Vehicle Theft: The Australian Approach" Presented at the European Secure Vehicle Alliance 6th Annual Conference, London, 17th June, 1998.

"Government Initiatives in Tackling Motor Vehicle Theft" Presented at the 5th International Association of Vehicle Theft Investigators, Australasian Branch Conference, Sydney, March 11-13th, 1998.

"CARS - the monitoring, research and evaluation of motor vehicle thefts in South Australia" Presented at the Australian Institute of Criminology's 2nd National Outlook Symposium, Canberra, 3rd & 4th March 1997 (pdf)

"The South Australian CARS Project" Presented at the 3rd International Association of Vehicle Theft Investigators, Australasian Branch Conference, Adelaide, June 17th-19th, 1996.

"Victimisation and fear amongst the elderly: An examination of two community surveys." Presented at the Australian Institute of Criminology Crime and Older People Conference, 23-25th February, 1993, Adelaide.

"Choice Inspection and Responding Times". Presented at the Australian Psychology Society's 1989 Annual Conference, 25-29 September 1989, Hobart.

Back to Top

Richard Yin - Database Analyst/Administrator, CARS

Ph: (08) 8226 4159 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, University of SA, 1995

Richard joined the Office in March 2004 as Data Analyst/ Administrator, on the National CARS Project. Richard previously worked as Support Services Engineer, Market Analyst and Market and Metering Services Engineer in the electricity industry.

Richard processes the monthly, quarterly and six-monthly data received from police, registration authorities and insurance companies across Australia, Glass's Guide and Polk and ongoing maintenance of CARS databases. Richard is also involved in producing yearly reports and the provision of data to clients both internal and external. Currently he is modifying and streamlining the CARS data processing procedures and preparing the CARS database and processing procedures to new database, SQL Server 2005.

Back to Top

Emma Ziersch - Senior Research Officer, CARS

Ph: (08) 8207 1954 - Fax: (08) 8204 9575

Profile

BA (Hons) Adelaide

Emma began work with the Office of Crime Statistics in December 2001 working on the National CARS Project (Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System). Prior to joining the National CARS Project, Emma worked at the Courts Improvement Unit within the Courts Administration Authority.

Emma is involved in a number of research projects relating to car theft, both in South Australia and nationally. These include quarterly and yearly reports and the provision of data to clients.  Emma is currently working on a longitudinal study of road accidents involving stolen vehicles in South Australia.

Publications

Kriven, S. and Ziersch, E. (2007).  New car security and shifting vehicle theft patterns in Australia.  Security Journal, vol. 20, no. 2, pp 111-122.

Drug Use and Vehicle Crime - an analysis of DUMA data on offenders arrested for motor vehicle theft

Motor Vehice Theft in South Australia - A Profile of Juvenile Offenders

Back to Top