Each year, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) recognises outstanding contributions to the field through its Early Career Researcher Award, celebrating innovative and impactful research by emerging scholars and practitioners.
At the 2025 ANZSOC Conference, we celebrated the achievements of Dr Helen Simpson, recipient of the award.
Dr Simpson is a Lecturer in Applied Policing at Western Sydney University, her work sits at the intersection of policing practice, domestic and family violence, and the use of technology in criminal justice.
Her award-winning research highlights how seemingly technical processes, such as video-recorded evidence, can have profound implications for victim experience, police workload, and justice outcomes.
We caught up with Dr Simpson to hear what winning this award means to her.
What does receiving this ANZSOC award mean to you?
There are no words that adequately express how wonderful it feels to be recognised by fellow criminologists. Receiving the ECR award has strengthened my impetus for pursuing research excellence in policing practice and shown me the generosity of others in my field. On the night of the awards dinner I was encouraged onto the stage by colleagues from the European Society of Criminology Policing Working Group, the ANZSOC Policing Thematic Group, and industry partners, some of whom I only just met at the conference and intend to collaborate with into the future. The award not only made me smile, receiving it has already opened new connections and research possibilities into the future. I don’t think I have been able to wipe the grin from my face since I got it. Thank you!
Could you briefly describe the work or contribution recognised by this award?
I received this award for the article titled: ‘The devil is in the detail: an evaluation of domestic violence evidence-in-chief in policing practice’ in Current Issues in Criminal Justice. The article considers how domestic and family violence (DFV) complainant video recorded statements affect prosecutorial and policing outcomes in DFV cases. The article analyses 25 complainant and 46 police personnel interviews, alongside 28 complainant video recorded statements.
This study is important because it contributes to understanding how technology intersects with victim experience, police workload, and evidentiary quality. Importantly, the article unpacks how incongruities and ambiguities inherent in the use of police technology can impact criminal justice outcomes across geographic, socioeconomic and cultural settings.
What impact do you hope your work will have on communities, policy, or the field?
Since domestic violence recorded evidence-in-chief (DVEC) was legislated in NSW in 2014, other jurisdictions around Australia and overseas have adopted similar practices. My hope is that my research not only led to iterative, and thereby more suitable, applications of DVEC in NSW but enhanced applications of it wherever it is utilised. Overall, I am interested in research that augments policing practice to make it better for complainants and other members of society, as well as, increasing practical applications in the field. I hope my work will continue to value-add in all these areas.
