hey
I moved to brissy for uni for semester 1 this year... and I've visited all three unis (qut gardens point, uq st lucia and griffith nathan).
Do NOT listen to anything that people say about the prestige of these unis and the courses. Each of them have their strengths and weaknesses.
Firstly:
UQ - The campus is fantastic, outclasses everything in qld and nsw in terms of the campus (st lucia that is). For arts courses (including criminology) uq is very good. You should also consider that if you want to become a criminologist, entry is pretty competitive so postgraduate study may be an option. I'm pretty sure that UQ has postgraduate courses in something similar.
QUT - is by far the most up to date uni out of the three an in qld overall in terms of courses. You will find that the justice course, as with the law course, is very practical... you are often tested on your ability to apply things rather than theory, and that is the same for business based courses as well. QUT is also very modern. the campus is pretty small and crowded - but don't let that turn you off... nothing is greater than walking from one side of the campus to the other in no time at all. Also... its smack bang in the middle of the city, on the river. easily accessibly by train, bus and also the citycat. there is no point driving to qut... you won't get a park.
GRIFFITH - Griffith has the best criminology course out of the three - its very relevant, and i only knew one person who did it and she really enjoyed it. Nathan campus is pretty decent - nothing special but its pretty close to the city and the gold coast. DON'T LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO SAY THE DROPKICKS GO TO GRIFFITH. they don't have a clue what they are on about - and if they are teachers - then whoop-di-doo they still don't know what they are talking about. My law tutor told us he used to teach at griffith and he talked very highly of the other people who teach there and the courses in general.
I don't want to tell you what to do... but before i went up to qld, i went up there for a little trip and went and saw all of the unis and had a chat to the people. If i were you i would consider doing this, at least so you can get a feel of the place you will be studying - you can learn alot more by visiting than by listening to people's opinions and reading study prospectus'.
Good luck with whatever you choose.