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Council Recommends Overhaul of High-Risk Offender Laws

02 Jul 07

A report released today by the Sentencing Advisory Council recommends major changes to the law relating to the extended supervision of high-risk offenders. The report also details a scheme for the continuing detention of high-risk offenders should the government decide to adopt such an approach.

The Final Report is the Council’s response to a reference from the Attorney-General, the Hon Rob Hulls, MP, in May 2006, requesting the Council’s advice on the merit of introducing a scheme of post-sentence detention, and the possible structure of a scheme if introduced.

The Report follows an earlier Discussion and Options paper that identified some of the arguments for and against detaining offenders post-sentence. This report suggested a possible model for a continued detention scheme.

In developing its final report, the Council undertook extensive consultation. A wide range of views in the community was identified concerning whether Victoria should improve its scheme for extended supervision or introduce a more restrictive continuing detention scheme.

Council Chair, Professor Arie Freiberg, said that the Council found “broad agreement that the main goal of any post-sentence scheme should be community safety, not the further punishment of offenders who have served their sentence.” He stated that, “the people who would be kept under these orders have finished their sentence and the appropriate place for them to be is the place where they can best receive treatment and monitoring which addresses their dangerous behaviour.”

The Council concluded that extended supervision in the community, if properly resourced and structured, is equally able to achieve the goal of community protection, and does so in a less intrusive way than continuing detention.

However, in response to the Attorney-General’s specific request, the report not only provides advice about how the Extended Supervision Scheme could be improved but also proposes a model for a new High-Risk Offenders Scheme that could include aspects of both supervision and detention.

Professor Freiberg said, “We accept that this is a difficult issue, and the question of whether continuing detention is introduced in Victoria is properly one for the government.”

“In providing advice on the structure of an integrated supervision and detention scheme, we have tried to balance the community’s legitimate concerns to be protected from high-risk offenders, with the need to ensure there are adequate safeguards. We have also recommended that whether a new scheme is introduced, or the current extended supervision scheme reformed, it should apply to all high-risk serious sex offenders and high-risk offenders convicted of homicide offences.”

The Report further recommends the implementation of a broad strategy to manage high-risk offenders and reduce the risks they pose to the community through re-offending.

Possible strategies include better assessment to identify high-risk offenders before they are sentenced, investing additional resources into the rehabilitation and treatment programs offered in prisons and increasing community involvement in the reintegration, monitoring and support of offenders when they are released.

“The changes we propose are far-reaching and innovative. Whether the government chooses to improve the existing extended supervision scheme or implement a new scheme that also allows continuing detention, we recommend a fair and humane scheme that protects all citizens through the least restrictive means possible,” concluded Professor Freiberg.