Contemporary rural crime is more varied and sophisticated than it once was. The new forms range from agricultural crimes, such as the theft of water designated for agricultural production, to environmental crimes such as the illegal dumping of waste. They take place side by side with "traditional" rural crimes such as cattle duffing while "urban" crimes such as drug and alcohol abuse and violent assaults are also prevalent, and on the rise.
Crime in Rural Australia covers them all. It brings together leading academics who examine the major dimensions of crime and justice in rural and regional Australia including:

the extent of rural crime
farm crime
violence
juvenile crime
policing
Indigenous crime and justice
crime prevention
drugs
fear of crime, and
sentencing and punishment.
It includes vignettes on rural policing and the stock squad from the perspectives of the NSW police.
An ideal text for rural crime and criminology courses, Crime in Rural Australia will also be of interest to criminal justice practitioners, policy-makers, and criminology scholars.
Three of the editors, Dr Elaine Barclay, Dr John Scott and Associate Professor Russell Hogg, are associated with the Centre for Rural Crime at the University of New England. Professor Joseph F. Donnermeyer is the International Research Co-ordinator for the Rural Crime Centre and is a leading US scholar on rural crime at Ohio State University.