Violent extremism risk assessment in the Australian courts; professional and ethical challenges for the expert witness in post sentence preventative detention cases

Since 2016, Federal legislation has been in place in Australia allowing for post sentence preventative detention of individuals deemed to pose an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence if they were released into the community. This type of legislation poses significant legal, moral and ethical issues as it balances the rights of the community to be protected from harm against the rights of an offender to be released at the end of a finite prison sentence. Courts are required to obtain reports from psychiatrists and/or psychologists as expert witnesses addressing the issue of risk. In this paper, we examine whether the current state of knowledge regarding violent extremism risk assessment meets the legal standards for admissibility and reliability, and we provide guidance on how to address the professional and ethical challenges which are inherent in this work.