Community Justice Files 33
| Author | Maggie Hall |
| Pages | 95-101 |
95
COMMUNITY JUSTICE FILES 33
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY JUSTICE FILES
Edited by Maggie Hall, Lecturer, University of Western Sydney
Social Workers and post-sentence detention and supervisi on - A
critical view
In common with other western countries, many Australian s tate governments have passed
legislation which enables the detention of certain offenders beyond the sentence imposed
by the courts when they are assessed as posing a high risk of reoffending. New South
Wales (NSW) has recently extended this power to offenders convicted of offences of
violence and who may also have been assessed as having a high risk of reoffending. In
other states the power is restricted to sex offenders.
Leaving aside concerns about the accuracy or appropriateness of the instruments
currently used to assess risk, particularly in relation to indigenous offenders; many
concerns about the implications and efficacy of such schemes remain. Despite the fact
that the High Court in Australia has found that post sentence detention does not
constitute pu nishment, the fact that such offenders are currently housed in prisons and
are subject to the regimes of those institutions leaves no doubt that this system is
certainly experienced as additional punishment by offenders.
While the numbers of prisoners actually detained as a result of this legislation is low, as
many are instead subjected to extended supervision orders, concerns still arise as to the
human rights implications of the treatment of one group of offenders differently from
others who may be assessed as just as likely to offend. The ethical implications for social
workers, particularly those employed by Corrections as probation and parole officers are
therefore much greater than those p osed by the mere existence of compulsory or
mandatory treatment.
The absence of discus sion among social workers who may be called upon to implement
such policie s as part of their work indicates that many may not have a sufficiently clear
understanding of the role of the social worker and their ethical responsibilities. The
question “who is the client?” is rarely asked and assumptions about the rehabilitative
qualities of such schemes may be made without recourse to evidence or to the views of
British Journal of Community Justice
©2014 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 12(2): 95-101
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