ACART Media Coverage: October 2012 to January 20132CC (Canberra)Drive - 17/01/2013 3:36 PM
Mike Welsh
Welsh says NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has suggested shock tactics should be applied to the arsonists to see what their handiwork has achieved via destruction and heartache. However, Queensland psychologist Dr Rebekah Doley from Bond University thinks this will not be a deterrent and says there would be a group of arsonists who would be immune from the process.
Duration: 1.45 5AA (Adelaide)Breakfast - 14/01/2013 7:37 AM
Keith Conlon and Jane Reilly
Interview with Dr Rebekah Doley, Australian Centre of Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University, about the psychology of the arsonist.
Reilly expresses anger at the news there has been a case of arson every day in SA for the past four months. She says SA has been relatively lucky with bushfires this summer. Doley says arsonists need to be treated as individuals instead of a group. She talks about the different motives behind female and male arsons. She says it is a misconception to treat all cases of arson as the work of pyromaniacs. Conlon refers to the comments of Barry O'Farrell, NSW Premier, who has called for arsons to be made to help euthanize farm stock affected by fires. Doley notes there are currently no intervention programs for fire starters in Australia. She says the prison system does not properly treat the anti-social behaviour in convicted arsons. She talks about her experience with studying criminal profiling. Conlon says SA Police were aware of several dozen arsonists during Operation Nomad. Doley speaks positively about an arson treatment program that is being trialled on the Gold Coast. She acknowledges some cases of arsonists within the firefighting community.
Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Australian Centre of Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University
Duration: 9.39 Audience 666 ABC Canberra (Canberra)AM (Saturday) - 12/01/2013 8:07 AM
Ashley Hall
Hall says it is hard to imagine why anyone would deliberately light a fire.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell this week threw his support behind a call for tougher penalties for arsonists including forcing them to help euthanise farm animals injured in fires. David Lewis reports. Dr Rebekah Doley, psychologist, Bond University has spent more than two decades studying the psychology of arsonists. She says she supports tougher penalties for arsonists but doubts whether shock tactics would be effective in deterring them. She says there are different groupings of arsonists, some who use it as an emotional release, or those who use it to target other people. She says arsonists are different from pyromaniacs. Hall says a new rehabilitation program aims to teach offenders how to express their emotions in less destructive ways. Doley says the program can be tailored to meet the needs of individuals. The Federal Government has agreed to fund a nationwide roll out of the program. Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Psychologist, Bond University
Duration: 3.09
This program or part thereof is syndicated to the following 47 station(s):- 612 ABC Brisbane (Brisbane), 702 ABC Sydney (Sydney), 720 ABC Perth
(Perth), 774 ABC Melbourne (Melbourne), 891 ABC Adelaide (Adelaide), 936 ABC Hobart (Hobart), ABC Alice Springs (Alice Springs), ABC Broken Hill (Broken Hill), ABC Capricornia (Rockhampton), ABC Central Coast (Erina), ABC Central Victoria (Bendigo), ABC Central West NSW (Orange), ABC Coffs Coast (Coffs Harbour), ABC Darwin (Darwin), ABC Esperance (Esperance), ABC Eyre Peninsula and West Coast (Port Lincoln), ABC Far North (Cairns), ABC Gippsland (Sale), ABC Goldfields WA (Kalgoorlie), ABC Goulburn Murray (Wodonga), ABC Great Southern WA (Wagin), ABC Illawarra (Wollongong), ABC Kimberley (Broome), ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt (Geraldton), ABC Mildura - Swan Hill (Mildura), ABC New England North West (Tamworth), ABC Newcastle (Newcastle), ABC North and West SA (Port Pirie), ABC North Coast NSW (Lismore), ABC North Queensland (Townsville), ABC North West Qld (Mt Isa), ABC Northern Tasmania (Launceston), ABC Riverina (Wagga Wagga), ABC Riverland SA (Renmark), ABC Shepparton (Shepparton), ABC South Coast WA (Albany), ABC South East NSW (Bega), ABC South East SA (Mt Gambier), ABC South West WA (Bunbury), ABC South Western Victoria (Warrnambool), ABC Southern Queensland (Toowoomba), ABC Tropical North (Mackay), ABC Upper Hunter (Muswellbrook), 666 ABC Canberra (Canberra)09:00 News (Weekend) - 12/01/2013 9:01 AM
Newsreader
This week NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell backed calls for tougher penalties for arsonists including making them euthanise animals injured in blazes, but Qld psychologist Rebekah Doley says she doubts shock tactics would deter arsonists from lighting other fires.
Interviewees: Rebekah Doley, psychologist
Duration: 0.41 666 ABC Canberra (Canberra)12:00 News (Weekend) - 12/01/2013 12:01 PM
Newsreader
Qld psychologist Rebekah Doley says the suggestion of forcing arsonists to help farmers kill animals that had been badly burnt in blazes would not deter them from reoffending.
Interviewees: Rebekah Doley, psychologist Duration: 0.49 Arson still a mysteryCentralian Advocate, 11/01/13, General News, Page 4
By: Lucy Kippist 
Radio Adelaide (Adelaide)Breakfast - 11/01/2013 7:15 AM
Jordan Archer
Archer says fires throughout Australia are a very real threat over the summer. Angus Randall speaks to Dr Rebekah Doley, Centre of Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University, about the profile of arsonists. She discusses the general characteristics of an arsonist based on a number of studies. She says she is set to publish research which found distinct differences between Australian and New Zealand arsonists. She says arsonists in Australia are among the nation's most dangerous offender as the fire often has no limits. She also notes that many will not stop until they are caught. She says an early obsession with fire is a predictor of later arsonists. She notes there is difference between an arsonist and a pyromaniac.
Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Centre of Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University
Duration: 7.20 ABC Gold and Tweed Coasts (Gold Coast)Statewide Mornings - 11/01/2013 9:16 AM
Nicole Dyer
Dyer talks to Dr Rebekah Doley, Co-Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment, about rehabilitating arsonists. Doley agrees with comments by Dr [Janet] Stanley, noting that the motivations for arson are quite complex, requiring tailored treatment. Doley explains that it is not usually pyromania, despite myths created by sensationalised reporting. She says there is always a possibility for rehabilitation, reporting that there are currently no specific treatments available for convicted arsonists in Australia. Doley says the Bond University centre's program has just received funding from the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department, following a pilot program in Qld. Dyer notes that the Yass Shire Mayor has suggested that arsonists should help put down animals injured in fires. [cont] Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Co-Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment,
Duration: 4.32
This program or part thereof is syndicated to the following 10 station(s):- 612 ABC Brisbane (Brisbane), ABC Capricornia (Rockhampton), ABC Far North (Cairns), ABC North Queensland (Townsville), ABC North West Qld (Mt Isa), ABC Southern Queensland (Toowoomba), ABC Sunshine and Cooloola Coasts (Sunshine Coast), ABC Tropical North (Mackay), ABC Western Queensland (Longreach), ABC Wide Bay (Bundaberg) ABC Gold and Tweed Coasts (Gold Coast)Statewide Mornings - 11/01/2013 9:24 AM
Nicole Dyer
[cont] Dyer talks to Dr Rebekah Doley, Co-Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment, about rehabilitating arsonists. Dyer notes that the Yass Shire Mayor has suggested that arsonists should help put down animals injured in fires. Doley says she can understand the community's need to feel that there has been punishment, but says there is very little research on what sanctions are actually effective. Doley explains that [the offenders] already understand the consequences, and choose to do it regardless. They talk about the rollout of Bond University's treatment program. Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Co-Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment,
Duration: 2.24 This program or part thereof is syndicated to the following 10 station(s):- 612 ABC Brisbane (Brisbane), ABC Capricornia (Rockhampton), ABC Far North (Cairns), ABC North Queensland (Townsville), ABC North West Qld (Mt Isa), ABC Southern Queensland (Toowoomba), ABC Sunshine and Cooloola Coasts (Sunshine Coast), ABC Tropical North (Mackay), ABC Queensland (Longreach), ABC Wide Bay (Bundaberg) ABC Gold and Tweed Coasts (Gold Coast)06:30 News - 10/01/2013 6:34 AM
Newsreader
Dr Rebekah Doley, Psychologist, Bond University, says a trial program to treat arsonists looks to be encouraging. The program is being developed at the Centre for Arson Research and Treatment at Bond University. Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Psychologist, Bond University
Duration: 0.39 ABC Gold and Tweed Coasts (Gold Coast)07:30 News - 10/01/2013 7:32 AM
Newsreader
A Gold Coast trial of a program to treat arsonists at Bond University's Centre for Arson Research and Treatment is expected to finish around the middle of this year. Program co-director and psychologist Dr Rebekah Doley says the trial is being funded by the Attorney-General's Department as a Commonwealth project.
Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Psychologist, Bond University
Duration: 0.40 6PR (Perth)Afternoons - 10/01/2013 12:20 PM
Rod Tiley
Producer Ms Melanie Bonolo
Tiley says there have been fire alerts across various states today, but not in WA. Some fires were deliberately lit. Dr Rebekah Doley, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University, has been working on treatment for arsonists. Doley says there has been work on other types of offending, but fire-setting has been largely overlooked. A pilot is being undertaken in Queensland. Doley says the university works with overseas organisations, and says 'we need to be targeting different things for different types of arson'. Serial arsonists generally start young and in secret, says Dolley, pointing out that child fire-setters do not always grow up to be arsonists.
Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Australian Centre for Arson Research and Treatment, Bond University
Duration: 9.07 4BC (Brisbane)Drive - 9/01/2013 3:17 PM
Mark Braybrook
Braybrook reports that Barry O'Farrell, NSW Premier, has called for tougher punishments for arsonists, due to a few NSW fires being the result of arson. He interviews Dr Rebekah Doley, Co Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research & Treatment, Bond University, who says that the reasons behind arson are very complex. She explains that there are a range of causes behind arson, and that she is trying to dispel the myth that all arsonists are the same. She notes that arson is not usually resulted to pyromania, and says that there is a lot of evidence to suggest that most arsonists are in control when they light fires. She adds that a lack of remorse is a common factor, and that arson can be very dangerous during bushfire season. Braybrook asks about the process of arson treatment, but Doley says that no targeted intervention is currently available in Australia, a fact that Bond University is trying to change. She notes that the treatment should be available in most states and territories soon. Braybrook mentions that O'Farrell said today that anyone found guilty of arson should have to clean up their mess, and Doley notes that there is a lot of research into what types of sanctions work best with specific offending types. She says that most arsonists are aware of the sanctions, but do not let this impact on their decisions. Interviewees: Dr Rebekah Doley, Co Director, Australian Centre for Arson Research & Treatment, Bond University
Duration: 8.43 Channel 7 (Perth)Today Tonight - 9/01/2013 6:44 PM
Tina Alteri
News that many of the fires across Australia in the past week were deliberately lit has caused outrage. Half of all bushfires are started by arsonists, with some even started by those entrusted to protect us. Psychologists are now calling for a national screening program to identify would-be arsonists who join volunteer fire brigades. Three deliberately lit fires last night came close to homes and a nursing home and took the efforts of 40 firefighters to be contained. Last year, CFA volunteer Brendan James Sokaluk was jailed for 17 years for lighting the Churchill blaze on Black Saturday. Dr Rebekah Doley, Bushfire Arson Researcher, says it's time for a debate over whether arsonists are encouraged by headlines.
Interviewees: Dr Ken Byrne, forensic psychologist; Dr Rebekah Doley,
Bushfire Arson Researcher; Unnamed Vic Fire Service officer; Unnamed Vic
Police officer
Vision: Vic Fire Service
Duration: 4.11
Listen here: http://www.4bc.com.au/blogs/4bc-blog/inside-an-arsonists-head/20130109-2cglv.html#.URhIMRx0AcM Channel 7 (Adelaide)Seven News - 8/01/2013 6:05 PM
Jessica Adamson
Fears that at least one of today's blazes was started by firebugs has sparked fresh calls for a national screening program. The aim is to identify would-be arsonists who join volunteer fire brigades. Forensic psychologist Dr Ken Byrne says our bushfire brigades need to screen recruits based on a US model, allowing volunteers to still join without being stigmatised by a failed psych test. Dr Rebekah Doley says it's time for a debate over whether arsonists are encouraged by all theheadlines.
Interviewees: Dr Ken Byrne, forensic psychologist; Dr Rebekah Doley,
Psychologist
Duration: 1.44
This program or part thereof is syndicated to the following 3 station(s):- Central GTS/BKN Port Lincoln (Port Lincoln), Central GTS/BKN Port Pirie (Spencer Gulf), Southern Cross GTS/BKN Broken Hill (Port Pirie) Channel 7 (Sydney)Seven News - 8/01/2013 6:39 PM
Mark Ferguson
There are new calls for a national screening program to identify would-be arsons who join volunteer fire brigades. Dr Ken Byrne, Inst of Forensic Psychology, says they set fires based on the 'hero motivation'. Dr Byrne says recruits need to be screened, allowing volunteers to still join without being stigmatised by a failed psych test. Barry O'Farrell, NSW Premier, says the community expects the courts to enforce tough laws. Interviewees: Barry O'Farrell, NSW Premier; Dr Ken Byrne, Inst of Forensic Psychology ; Dr Rebekah Doley, Psychologist ; Supt Ian McNabb, Arson Squad
Duration: 2.15
This program or part thereof is syndicated to the following 15 station(s):- Prime7 ACT (Canberra), Prime7 Armidale (Armidale), Prime7 Coffs Harbour (Coffs Harbour), Prime7 Cooma (Cooma), Prime7 Dubbo (Dubbo), Prime7 Gold Coast (Gold Coast), Prime7 Griffith (Griffith), Prime7 Moree (Moree), Prime7 Newcastle (Newcastle), Prime7 North Coast (Lismore), Prime7 Orange (Orange), Prime7 Tamworth (Tamworth), Prime7 Taree (Manning River), Prime7 Wagga Wagga (Wagga Wagga), Prime7 Wollongong (Wollongong) Uphill battle for arson police unitCourier Mail, 08/12/12, General News, Page 22
By: David Murray 
Arson cop numbers under fireWeekend Gold Coast Bulletin, 08/12/12, General News, Page 19 
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