Interagency Collaboration

The management of accused under the authority of the Board requires extensive collaboration between government and non-government agencies throughout the State of Western Australia. The primary reason behind this level of collaboration is the fact that the Board does not have a source of funds to provide an accused with accommodation or with supervision by trained carers.

Once a mentally impaired accused is assessed as a sufficiently low risk to the safety of the community, such that they may be the subject of a Conditional Release Order, the Board has an obligation to consider the safety and welfare of the accused. The management of mentally impaired accused, including intellectually impaired accused, in the community presents many challenges.

The Board is to confirm that the appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure that the accused is appropriately cared for in the community and money to pay for that care must be sourced. Consequently, the chronic shortage of resources in the mental health system generally continues to present impediments to the release of accused. 

Relationships with the variety of government and non-government agencies involved with mentally impaired accused have continued to improve. The Board now has far greater access to the sort of information required to make informed decisions concerning the risks to the community, the interests of victims and the needs of the accused.

This change in approach has also allowed for a far closer scrutiny of cases and, when it is appropriate for an accused to be released into the community, it has allowed for a multi-faceted resolution and shared responsibility with other government departments such as Disability Services within the Department of Communities for certain accused.  

Other agencies with which the Board collaborates include, but are not limited to:

• Corrective Services division, Department of Justice;
• Mental Health Law Centre;
• Office of the Public Advocate;
• State Administrative Tribunal;
• Legal Aid;
• State Forensic Mental Health Services;
• Western Australia Police Force
• Victim Notification Register; and
• Victim-Offender Mediation Unit.

As the Board does not have access to a funding stream to pay for housing or the care of mentally impaired accused, considerable time goes into encouraging these working relationships with the agencies that can provide these services.

Last updated: 2-May-2023

[ back to top ]