A Review of Approaches to Forensic Risk Assessment in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Although there has been extensive research on risk assessment in mental health over the past decade, its practice internationally has not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to describe the current status of risk assessment in forensic psychiatry facilities in Australia and New Zealand. Forty-one health professionals from five forensic psychiatry units in these countries completed a questionnaire on risk assessment and risk management in mentally disordered offenders. Little consistency was found in the approaches used and the research base on which the approaches were employed was in some cases of questionable validity. These findings have implications for the development of more consistent approaches to risk assessment in forensic populations.