Justice System Mortality Inequality Study
Mortality inequality among people in contact with Justice system
Published on the 08 October 2026 by UNSW Scientia PhD Project
This project is part of the UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarship Scheme
Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend and a one-off Global Mobility Grant to conduct international engagement activities.
Understanding mortality in adults and young people in contact with the criminal justice system in New South Wales, Australia: a twenty-year linkage update.
This is a population-based data linkage study to examine rates, causes and risk factors for mortality and quantify excess mortality among adults and young people who were imprisoned or received a community-based sanction (e.g., community supervision, community service, fines) or court diversion in NSW between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2023.
Specific aims:
Among adults and young people in contact with the NSW criminal justice system:
- Determine the relative importance of both disease-related and external causes of death during imprisonment in correctional facilities, after release, after receiving community-based sanctions, and after receiving court diversion and quantify excess mortality compared to the NSW general population.
- Identify risk factors for all-cause and cause-specific mortality including disease-related and external causes of death.
- Apply text mining to coronial reports to extract detailed contextual information regarding the circumstances surrounding suicide, homicide and unintentional overdose deaths.
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- Residency: Domestic applicants only.
- Degree program: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
You must meet the minimum requirements below to apply:
- An appropriate Bachelor degree with first or upper second class Honours from UNSW: OR
- A completed Master by Research, with a substantial research component and demonstrated capacity for timely completion of a high-quality research thesis; OR
- a qualification from another tertiary institution at a level considered equivalent by the Faculty Higher Degree Committee (HDC)
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Eligible applicants must contact the Primary Supervisor, Tony Butler - z2185283@ad.unsw.edu.au. If he agrees to supervise you, you will be invited to submit a formal application to UNSW.
Your email should include:
- CV
- Official academic transcripts
- A brief introduction about you and why you are qualified for this project.
- What interests you about this project and the supervisor(s) expertise.
Research project overview
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Scholarship value
$39,991 per annum (2027 rate) stipend for 3.5 years
$25,000 Global Mobility Grant (one-off) -
Supervisory team
Professor Tony Butler (UNSW, Primary Supervisor)
Professor Seena Fazel (University of Oxford, Co-Supervisor)
Associate Professor Jocelyn Jones (Edith Cowan University, Co-Supervisor)
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Global research partner
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Candidate residency
Domestic
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Degree program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
UNSW School | Research area
Faculty of Medicine & Health | School of Population Health
Impact focus area
Pillar 8: Enable healthy lives
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Impact focus area
Pillar 9: Strengthen societal resilience, security and cohesion
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Primary supervisor
Do you have questions?
The UNSW Graduate Research School manages all postgraduate research applications and scholarships. Get in touch with our team to discuss your research interests and the next steps.