Prato 2025 – Safer Communities: Creating better outcomes for justice involved people
When
Where
Cost
Incapacitation and retribution are ‘default’ responses to people who commit crime in many jurisdictions around the world. These responses have broad and lasting social, legal, economic and health consequences. Media and public discourse around crime is typically reactionary, particularly for youth crime, where punishment and control are emphasised despite most crimes being rooted in broader social circumstances. Expanding prisons and relying on surveillance and punishment is unsustainable and unnecessary since many prevention and intervention strategies can deter crime and facilitate desistance.
This Prato 2025 ‘Safer Communities’ conference is designed to bring together practitioners, legal decision makers, advocates, researchers and policy contributors to explore new and different ways of responding to criminal behaviour and the people who commit criminal acts, creating lasting positive impacts for people of all ages. We invite presenters to take a life-course perspective and to consider how efforts at various stages of the lifespan can enhance community safety and improve the trajectories of people who are justice involved.
Conference
30 September to 2 October 2025
Workshops
29 September and 3 October 2025
Keynote speakers
Nicola Carr, Andrew Carroll, Carlo Garofalo, Susan McVie, Barry Rosenfeld
The Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology is proud to be partnering with Monash University to deliver this event. The conference will be held at Palazzo Vaj, the Monash University Centre in Prato, Tuscany, which provides an exciting opportunity to meet in an inviting setting to share research, practice and policy developments that enable a critical examination of novel approaches to creating better outcomes for justice involved people.
This year, as well as pre-conference workshops, we will also be hosting post-conference workshops. Stay tuned for details.
Key themes
The conference will give particular attention to:
Understanding crime and criminal behaviour in adults and young people
Family violence and child welfare
Gender, diversity and cultural considerations
Legal reforms for managing criminal behaviour
Advances in prevention and intervention programs and approaches to desistance from crime
Mental illness, trauma, personality dysfunction, substance misuse and crime
Risk, intervention, diversion and decarceration approaches and policy
Conference registration
Registrations for the Prato 2025 conference are now open!
Program details
Nicola Carr
Professor and Chair of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin
Nicola Carr is Professor and Chair of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin. She has previously worked in Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Nottingham, where she has taught on social work and criminology programmes. Nicola is professionally qualified as a probation officer and has previously worked both with adults and young people in the criminal justice system.
She researches different aspects of the criminal justice system, including people’s experiences of contact with the system. This has included studies of young people’s interactions with police and LGBT people’s experiences of imprisonment. She is also interested in practice and decision-making in the criminal justice system and has carried out a range of research in this area.
She is currently undertaking research on the probation service in England and Wales. This has involved the production of a podcast series with the Prison Radio Association exploring the purposes and future of probation. Nicola is also currently leading a five-nation comparative study exploring practices and experiences of community supervision. Nicola has written widely on different aspects of crime and justice.
She has recently published a book on Time and Punishment (with Gwen Robinson), which explores how time is an integral aspect of punishment, and a book on Youth Justice (with Roger Smith), which looks at youth justice in the global context.
Nicola has acted as a Scientific Advisor to the Council of Europe and is a Board member of the Confederation of European Probation. She has served as editor of the Probation Journal and is an editorial board member of the British Journal of Criminology, Youth Justice and the Irish Probation Journal.
Andrew Carroll
Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science
Andrew Carroll is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science. He has worked as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in both treatment and assessment roles in Victoria since the late 1990s.
He studied as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, obtaining First Class Honours in Medical Sciences before reading Psychology to Masters level. He then trained in clinical medicine at the University of Oxford.
After training in psychiatry in North Yorkshire, he completed a Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. He then moved to Melbourne and worked at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) for some 25 years, undertaking a variety of roles in its hospital, community and prison services.
He is an experienced expert witness in both criminal and civil matters. He has particular interest in how the effects of mental disorders, and their possible causal relationships to offending behaviour, are considered by the criminal courts at sentencing. He was an expert witness in the landmark case of Brown, that radically changed how personality disorders are taken into account at sentencing in Victoria following an Appeal court ruling (Brown v The Queen [2020] VSCA 212).
He has co-authored a number of papers and book chapters on the role of mental health expert evidence in the criminal courts.
Dr Carroll also has a role at the Victorian Department of Health as a Deputy Chief Psychiatrist (Forensic Mental Health). In addition, he is Co-Director of Our Curious Minds, a training and consultancy company working in the mental health, psychosocial and legal sectors.
Carlo Garofalo
Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Perugia (Italy), Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education
Carlo Garofalo is a Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Perugia (Italy), Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education. Before joining the University of Perugia in 2022, he graduated from Sapienza University of Rome in 2016, and worked as an Assistant and Associate Professor at Tilburg University (Netherlands) from 2015 to 2017.
His main research interests lie at the intersection of personality pathology (mainly, psychopathy), emotion regulation, and aggression, and he has published extensively on these and related topics. In 2022, he co-edited (with Jelle Sijtsema) the book Clinical Forensic Psychology: Introductory Perspectives on Offending for Palgrave MacMillan.
He serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, the Journal of Criminal Justice, the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, and Frontiers in Psychiatry – section Forensic Psychiatry, as well as a Consulting Editor for Journal of Personality Assessment and Psychological Assessment. Further, he is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Criminal Psychology, Advances.in/Psychology, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Journal of Forensic Psychology: Research and Practice, and Portuguese Journal of Behavioral and Social Research.
He is a Full Member and member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Society for Forensic Psychotherapy and Rehabilitation, as well as a Full Member of the Italian Association of Psychology, the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, and the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. Within the latter, he is founding member and co-chair (with Steven Gillespie) of the Section for the Study of Aggression and Antisociality.
Susan McVie
Chair of Quantitative Criminology at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh
Professor McVie OBE FRSE FAcSS is Chair of Quantitative Criminology at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh. She is Co-Director of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime; Director of the Policing the Pandemic in Scotland project; Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research; a member of the Scottish Government’s Board of Official Statistics; and an associate member of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research.
Susan has worked in academia for around 30 years and her areas of research include: crime and justice inequalities; changing patterns of victimisation and offending; criminal careers over the life course; transitions from juvenile to adult justice systems; violence and homicide; youth gangs and knife crime; violence and vulnerability; youth offending and ACES; police use of stop and search; non-compliance with the Coronavirus Regulations; policing mental health crises; public health policing; and online drug markets. Prior to joining the academy, she was a government researcher and focused on multiple areas of policy, including policing, courts and prisons. She has acted as an advisor to governments in Scotland, the UK and a range of international countries on policy issues relating to crime, justice and policing.
Along with her colleague and co-author, Professor Lesley McAra, Susan received the Howard League for Penal Reform Research Medal in 2013; the University of Edinburgh’s Chancellor’s Award for Impact from HRH Princess Anne in 2016; and the ESRC’s Award for Outstanding Public Policy Impact in 2019. She won the 2021 European Society for Prevention Research President’s Award for a co-authored paper in the British Journal of Criminology. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2014 and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2020. She received an OBE for services to social science in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2016.
Barry Rosenfeld
Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University
Barry Rosenfeld is a Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University, where he co-directs the concentration in Forensic Psychology. He is a Past President of the American Psychology Law Society and the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services. He is also a member of the editorial board of several prominent journals and routinely provides workshops on violence risk assessment, malingering and cross-cultural issues in forensic assessment.
Dr. Rosenfeld has published more than 200 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters addressing a wide range of topics in psychology and law, including violence risk assessment, malingering, and cross-cultural issues in forensic assessment. He is board certified in forensic psychology and conducts evaluations in both civil and criminal forensic settings, including violence risk assessment, civil commitment of sex offenders, competency to stand trial, and personal injury/emotional damages.
Dr. Rosenfeld has also been involved in the evaluation of individuals detained in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison and the Guantanamo Bay military prison, consulted to the U.N. War Tribunal regarding the prosecution of Serbian individuals accused of war crimes, and has evaluated Punjabi litigants involved in a class action lawsuit against the government of India and Sudanese refugees living in the U.S. suing for damages suffered during the second Sudanese civil war. He currently consults to multiple television networks on issues related to risk assessment for reality television show participants.
Workshops will be held on Monday the 29th September and Friday the 3rd October. We are pleased to announce the following workshops, with more to be announced soon!
Sentencing and Psychopathology : addressing contemporary challenges
- Time: 9am - 12.30pm
- Date: 29 September
- Speaker: Andrew Carroll
In common law countries, the presence of mental health problems at the time of a criminal offence or at time of sentencing may play a key role in determining what penalty to impose on people convicted of an offence. As a result, forensic mental health evidence often plays a role in sentencing hearings. The relevant jurisprudence has evolved significantly over the past two decades.
In this workshop Dr Carroll will consider some of the challenges that now arise for both experts and lawyers in the generation and delivery of evidence at presentence hearings. In doing so, he will draw upon both empirical research and a selection of relevant cases.
In the first half Dr Carroll will consider the challenges related to retrospective analysis of factors relevant to the offending itself, including:
- childhood adversities;
- personality dysfunction; and
- factors proximal to the crime, including symptoms of mental illness.
He will discuss the pitfalls inherent to the task of considering the connections between such factors - sometimes called 'causal links' - and offending behaviour.
In the second half, Dr Carroll will consider the challenges related to prospective analysis of mental health factors relevant to sentencing, including:
- prospects for rehabilitation;
- reoffending risk; and
- the anticipated burdensomeness and psychiatric harms of imprisonment.
The workshop will be of particular interest to forensic mental health experts who conduct presentence assessments and also legal practitioners (both defence and prosecution) working in crime.
Using technology to support the delivery of forensic mental health services
- Time: 9am - 12.30pm
- Date: 3 October
- Speaker: Ashley Batastini
For many forensic mental health clinicians across the globe, the onset of COVID-19 forced a reconsideration of what best practices look like. While technologies like videoconferencing platforms were more widely embraced by other sectors of mental health well before the pandemic, forensic professionals tended to lag in their acceptance. To justify their resistance, there was relatively little guidance for forensic mental health in either the research or practice literature. But, how much farther have we come in the past five years? Is there anything else we need to know? And, what other technological advances relevant to forensic work might be coming up on the horizon?
The first third of this workshop will outline the historical progression and current knowledge base regarding the application of videoconferencing technologies (VCT). Topics covered will include:
- The emergence of VCT as a supportive tool in providing mental health services generally and within forensic psychology and psychiatry specifically.
- Broader practical benefits and meta-analytical findings regarding the effectiveness of VCT vs. traditional in-person service delivery.
- The impacts of COVID-19 on forensic mental health practice, particularly regarding assessments.
- Several key research findings on the acceptability, feasibility, and reliability of using VCT to administer forensic assessment tools.
- Current research limitations and areas of additional research need.
The second third of the workshop will focus on practice recommendations when incorporating VCT including:
- Determining the appropriateness of VCT
- Preparing for a VCT session
- Maximizing individual privacy and security of information
- Ensuring validity is not compromised when modifications are made to accommodate the virtual environment.
- Monitoring engagement and handling difficult response styles
- Transparency in report-writing
The final third of the workshop will introduce attendees to emerging technologies (e.g., machine learning) that have implications for forensic mental health practice, provide guidance on how to appropriately integrate technology into everyday practice, and share several precautions and moral anchors to keep in mind as the field continues to evolve.
This workshop would likely be of interest primarily to forensic practitioners who conduct evaluations for the courts; however, some discussion will centre on how technology can be used for forensic clinical care services.
Walking tour
- Date: Monday 29 September
- Time: 2pm
- Where: Meet at the entrance to the Monash Prato centre
- About: Join an insightful journey through Prato's squares and streets with informative and friendly guides. See and learn about sites including the Piazza del Comune, Castello dell'Imperatore and Duomo. Our walking tours will suit anyone wanting to learn about Prato's history. It's also a great opportunity to meet others attending the conference. Tours will take approximatly 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Fee: Free! limited to 50 people (two groups of 25). Attendees must register when purchasing a conference ticket.
Wine tasting
- Date: Monday 29 September
- Time: 4pm
- Where: Meet at aTipico Shop. Via Benedetto Cairoli, 14
- About: Interested in learning about local wines? Come along to a wine tasting at aTipico Shop Bottega & Degusteria. aTipico specialises in wines from the Prato area. Snacks included! Tickets are strictly limited so get in quick!
- Fee: $35
Forensicare welcome reception
- Date: Tuesday 30 September
- Time: 5.30pm–7.30pm
- Venue: Interludio il Ristorante (walled-garden restaurant)
- Fee: The fee is included for all delegates. Additional tickets for guests will be available when registrations open.
Forensicare (Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health) is the state-wide specialist provider of forensic mental health services in Victoria, Australia. Forensicare is the only agency in Victoria that provides clinical forensic mental health services which span all components of the mental health and criminal justice sectors – giving Forensicare a unique perspective on mental health and public safety issues. Visit the Forensicare website for more information.
We are grateful to Forensicare for sponsoring the welcome reception!
Conference dinner
- Date: Wednesday 1 October
- Time: Meet at Monash centre at 5.15pm SHARP.
- Venue: Villa Il Granduca
- Fee: The fee is included for all full paying delegates. Student registration does not include the conference dinner. Additional tickets for guests will be available when registrations open.
Villa Il Granduca, located in Carmignano, is a beautiful Tuscan villa located in the Medici hills. The Villa is surrounded by expansive gardens, and offers a spectacular view toward Florence's Battistero and Duomo. Delegates will be transported from the Monash University Prato Centre directly to the venue via bus.
Conference location
Monash University Prato Centre
Palazzo Vaj
Via Pugliesi, 26
59100 Prato, Italia
The Monash University Prato Centre is located on the ground and first floors of the elegant 18th century Palazzo Vaj on Via Pugliesi in the historic centre of Prato.
Prato, in northern Tuscany, is close to several of Europe's most significant cities and institutions. It is located 20 minutes from Florence and the European University Institute in Fiesole, one hour from Bologna (home to Europe's oldest university), two hours from Rome and three hours from Milan.
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Further information
Places at the conference are limited and will be allocated on a first-registered basis.
All fees are in Australian dollars and do not include Australian GST. To convert to other currencies, you may use a currency conversion website such as XE Currency Converter as a guide.
Registration fees include the three-day conference, the welcome reception and the conference dinner. Student registration includes the welcome reception, but not the conference dinner. Fees do not include insurance of any kind.
| Item | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Early bird registration | A$930 | Until Monday 18 August 2025 |
| Standard registration | A$990 | From Tuesday 19 August 2023 |
| Student registration | A$760 | Conference dinner ticket not included in student price |
| Workshops | A$230 per half-day workshop | |
| Welcome reception for additional guest | A$85 per additional guest | Delegates are welcome to invite guests to the welcome reception and the conference dinner. |
| Conference dinner for additional guest | A$165 per additional guest | |
| Walking tour | Free | Tickets are limited so get in quick! |
| Wine tasting | A$35 |
Cancellations
Cancellations must be advised in writing by 18 August 2025. The conference organisers reserve the right to apply a $160AUD cancellation fee per registration. After that date, refunds will only be issued in exceptional circumstances.
Substitute delegates will be accepted. Please advised the conference organisers if a ticket is being transferred to another delegate.
By air
Florence airport (Peretola) is approximately 25 minutes by car or 40 minutes by bus to Prato. Taxis and buses run between Prato and Florence airport. A one-way taxi fare from Florence airport to the Monash University Prato Centre can cost 40-50 euro.
A bus service (operated by CAP bus company) departs every 15 minutes outside the airport on the main street. Tickets can be purchased from a newsagent (tabacchi) or on board the bus. You are advised to get off on Via del Ceppo Vecchio just before the castle (Castello dell'Imperatore) and continue on foot for three minutes to the Monash University Prato Centre.
Major airlines such as ITA Airways, British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa operate from Florence airport.
Pisa airport is approximately one hour and 50 minutes to Prato by train (requires changing train twice) or 70 minutes by Terravision bus to Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence. Low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet operate from Pisa airport.
Bologna airport is a 30-minute taxi or bus ride from Bologna train station.
Rome airport (Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino) is a 45-minute train ride to Rome Termini train station and three hours by train to Prato. The route involves three train changes.
By train
There are two train stations operating in Prato:
- Prato Centrale (main station – 15-minute walk to Palazzo Vaj)
- Prato Porta al Serraglio (secondary station – five-minute walk to Palazzo Vaj)
Prato is 25 minutes by train from Florence, 50 minutes from Bologna and 90 minutes from Pisa.
It is on Italy's major north-south railway line, which links Rome with Milan, Turin, Munich and beyond.
Prato offers a variety of accommodation for different needs and budgets – prices are seasonal. Please arrange your own accommodation by contacting hotels directly or consulting their websites.
The Monash University Prato Centre has recommended a range of accommodation options within close proximity to the venue.
A limited number of rooms (Comfort Rooms) have been reserved for delegates at the Hotel Art Milano. Please email info@arthotel-milano.it to book directly and quote ‘FORENSIC’ when making enquiries.
Accommodation in Prato can book out quickly. We strongly recommend booking accommodation well in advance.
Visa and consular information
It is the responsibility of delegates to confirm visa requirements and make suitable arrangements. For further information, consult the Italian Embassy in your home country.
Insurance
Conference registration fees do not include insurance of any kind. We recommended you take out personal travel and medical insurance when you register for the conference and book your travel which includes loss or damage of personal possessions, including loss of hotel payments and registration fees through cancellation.
The conference organisers do not take responsibility for participants failing to arrange their own insurance.
Weather
The weather in Northern Italy in October is usually pleasant with an average high of 21°C and low of 11°C. Evenings are usually cooler. As variations in temperature can occur, we recommend you prepare for cooler and warmer weather.
Looking for things to do in Prato?
Our event partner and host Monash Prato has plenty of suggestions on their website.
Call for abstracts
We will be calling for abstracts in early March 2025. Papers, round tables and symposia will be considered. Presentations should relate to one of the themes listed on the conference website. Detailed submission guidelines will be provided when the call is made.
Presentation time allocation
- Oral presentations are allocated between 15 and 20 minutes, including question time
- Symposia are allocated between 45 and 60 minutes, including question time
- Round tables are allocated between 45 and 60 minutes.
Event Terms and Conditions
1. Registration and Ticketing:
- By registering for our event, you agree to abide by these terms and conditions
- Tickets can be transferred and refunded under certain circumstances. Contact the conference organiser for details.
2. Payment:
- Payment can be made online through the registration portal.
- All prices include applicable taxes and processing fees.
- Payment can be made via invoice at request. Invoices are generated by Swinburne University of Technology.
3. Attendee Responsibilities:
- Attendees are expected to conduct themselves respectfully and professionally.
- Unlawful or disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated, and organisers reserve the right to remove attendees in violation of the code of conduct.
4. Privacy Policy:
- We collect and process personal data in accordance with Swinburne University of Technology's Privacy Policy, which can be found at https://www.swinburne.edu.au/privacy/
- Event organisers will provide attendee name and organisational details to the conference venue (Monash Prato) for the purposes of recording visitors to the venue. Attendees are required to sign into the venue at the commencement of each day.
5. Cancellation and Changes:
- In the event of conference cancellation or rescheduling, attendees will be notified promptly.
- Refund policies for cancelled or rescheduled conferences will be communicated at that time.
6. Liability and Disclaimers:
- Speaker cancellations or changes to the program may occur, and we are not responsible for any inconvenience this may cause.
7. Force Majeure:
- In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond our control (e.g., natural disasters), Swinburne University of Technology will make all efforts to reschedule or refund tickets, but we are not liable for any resulting losses.
8. Contact Information:
- For inquiries, concerns, or requests related to the conference, please contact us at prato2025@swinburne.edu.au.
9. Acceptance of Terms:
- By registering for this event, you acknowledge and accept these terms and conditions.
Presenter Terms and Conditions
1. Presenter Responsibility:
- By submitting an abstract for our event, you agree to abide by these terms and conditions.
- All presenters are responsible for ensuring that they have obtained any necessary ethical approvals and approvals from relevant governing bodies to present their research or content.
2. Compliance with Applicable Laws and Regulations:
- Presenters must adhere to all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines governing their research or content presentation. This includes compliance with ethical standards, human subject protections, and any other relevant laws.
3. Liability:
- Presenters are solely responsible for any legal or ethical issues arising from the content they present. The conference organisers will not be held liable for any breaches of ethical standards, laws, or regulations by presenters.
4. Verification:
- The conference organisers reserve the right to request documentation or evidence of ethical approval and relevant permissions from presenters. Failure to provide such documentation may result in the withdrawal of the presentation.
5. Confidentiality:
- Presenters should be mindful of any confidential or sensitive information they may present and take appropriate measures to protect the privacy and security of such data. Any breaches of confidentiality will be the responsibility of the presenter.
6. Changes to presentations:
- Presenters should inform the conference organisers of any significant changes or updates to their presentations, especially if these changes impact the ethical or regulatory status of their work.
7. Acceptance of Terms:
- By submitting a presentation for this event, you acknowledge and accept these terms and conditions.
Professor Michael Daffern
Director – Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science
Swinburne University of Technology
mdaffern@swinburne.edu.au
Professor Rosemary Sheehan AM
Professor Emerita – Department of Social Work
Monash University
rosemary.sheehan@monash.edu
Have conference enquiries?
If you have enquiries about the Prato 2025 conference, please contact Brett McIvor or Maree Stanford (Conference Coordinators) via prato2025@swinburne.edu.au or +61 3 9214 3887.