What impact do public sex offender registries have on community safety?

Abstract

Sexual offending has a significant impact on victms and can cause considerable angst within the community. The effectve management of sex offenders in the community is of paramount importance. This paper reviews the latest empirical evidence from Australia and overseas regarding the effectveness of public and non-public sex offender registries. Results show that while public sex offender registries may have a small general deterrent effect on first tme offenders, they do not reduce recidivism. Further, despite having strong public support, they appear to have litle effect on levels of fear in the community. While the evidence is limited to a small number of US studies, non-public sex offender registries do appear to reduce reoffending by assistng law enforcement. The review concludes by highlightng important consideratons to help inform future decisions about the feasibility of a public register in Australia.