Canberra Branch Meeting -- Impacts of COVID-19, social distancing and movement restrictions on crime in NSW, Australia.

SSA Canberra invites you to its August branch meeting, featuring an online talk by Joanna Wang from the University of Technology, Sydney! 

Times (+/- some standard errors):  5:45pm – 6:45pm Canberra time. 

RSVP: Please see below for the Zoom meeting link, noting RSVP is not required. Any issues, please contact ssacanberra@gmail.com.

Dinner: After the talk we will be meeting informally for dinner in Civic. We will meet at the Northbourne Ave entrance to Verity Lane Market) at 7.15pm, then go inside. You can purchase whichever food you prefer from one of the outlets in Verity Lane. . If you are interested in attending the dinner, please let us know by 4pm Tuesday 30th August by entering your details at dinner attendance sheet or contacting Warren Mueller <(warren.muller@csiro.au>

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Speakers: Dr Joanna Wang (University of Technology, Sydney)

Topic: The initial impact of the COVID-19, social distancing and movement restrictions on crime in NSW, Australia.

Abstract: The spread of COVID-19 has prompted Governments around the world to impose draconian restrictions on business activity, public transport, and public freedom of movement. The effect of these restrictions appears to vary from country to country and, in some cases, from one area to another within a country. This study examines the initial impact of the COVID-19 restrictions imposed in New South Wales by the State Government. We examine week-to-week changes in 13 categories of crime (and four aggregated categories) from 2 January 2017 to 28 June 2020. An interrupted time series approach with ARIMA specification was used to model the entire time series. Our results are broadly in accord with those of other studies, but we find no effect of the lockdown on domestic assault.

Biography: Dr Joanna Wang is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. Previously, she worked as a research statistician in the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) in the Department of Communities and Justice. Joanna’s work is motivated by real-world problems arising in applied fields such as health, epidemiology and crime and she is interested in developing statistical tools and methods for analysing data to answer policy-relevant questions. Currently she is interested in analysing relevant crime data for undertaking rigorous evaluations to determine the effectiveness of justice programs and policies.

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Zoom link:

Website links: https://statsoc.org.au/Canberra-Branch-meetings