Papers on High-Risk Offenders Released
The Sentencing Advisory Council is releasing a Research Paper on recidivism of sex offenders and a Discussion and Options Paper on post-sentence options for offenders who have reached the end of their custodial sentence but who may still pose a serious risk to the community on their release from prison.
The papers are part of the Sentencing Advisory Council's response to a request from the Attorney-General for options on managing these high-risk offenders.
The research paper focuses on recidivism of sex offenders and is designed to provide background information to the discussion paper. The discussion and options paper examines current legal responses in Victoria and other jurisdictions to high-risk offenders, with a particular focus on post-sentence options. Human rights and criminal justice considerations are also covered in the paper.
The discussion and options paper presents a possible model for a continuing detention scheme to stimulate debate as to what the possible elements may be. The model draws on existing schemes operating in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales, as well as international approaches to the management of high-risk offenders.
The Council is inviting written submissions on the discussion and options paper and will also be arranging roundtables, focus groups and meetings to consult with members of the legal community, victims and advocacy groups and the wider Victorian community before preparing its final report.
Submissions and feedback on the paper are due by Friday 23 February 2007.