Appeals, Extensions and Cancellations

This topic sets out the legislation, policies and processes in relation to ES appeals, extensions and cancellations.

Appeals

An offender may appeal the court's decision to impose an ES order (or the length of the order imposed). The order continues to run despite any appeal and should be managed accordingly.

Legislative reference: Section 107R Parole Act 2002.

Extensions: legislative criteria

The Department of Corrections may apply to extend an ES order of less than 10 years' duration (up to the maximum of 10 years).

An extension application may only be made if the offender:

has been convicted of a breach of the ES order within the 12 months preceding the extension application, or
agrees in writing to the extension application.

The court may extend the order if:

it is satisfied that the offender is likely to commit a relevant child sex offence after the expiry of the order, or
the offender agrees in writing to the extension.

The ES extension application must be accompanied by a health assessor's report addressing the same matters as the original ES application.

Legislative reference: Section 107N Parole Act 2002.

Extensions: application process

ES extension applications are made during the final year of the ES order, following this process.

Stage	Description
1	At 6-monthly formal review, the PO and the psychologist fill out the formal review form, which contains the following check for extension eligibility: Short ES order less than 10 years? Less than one year until expiry of ES order? Convicted of a breach of ES in past 10 months? OR Offender agrees to extension application in writing?
2	If all three criteria are met, the probation officer notifies the ES coordinator.
3	The ES coordinator adds the offender to the ES assessment spreadsheet and enters a due date for the health assessor's report.
4	The psychological health assessment proceeds as per the process for initial ES assessments.
5	If an extension application is recommended and proceeds, the process for initial ES applications will be followed.

Cancellations: legislative criteria

Either the offender or the Department of Corrections can apply to the court at any time to cancel an ES order on the grounds that the offender is no longer likely to commit a relevant offence.

Legislative reference: Section 107M Parole Act 2002.

Note: Any cancellation application by the Department of Corrections would be based on significant evidence of sustained management of dynamic risks or other exceptional circumstances, e.g. permanent incapacitation. Given that the risk of re-offending for child sex offenders persists across the life-span, any reasons to cancel an ES order would need to be considered carefully.

Cancellations: Department of Correction's application

The following table describes the process for considering and applying for an ES order cancellation.

Stage	Description
1	If the probation officer is considering the cancellation of an ES order, the probation officer discusses this with the relevant psychologist.
2	If the probation officer is still considering the cancellation of an ES order, then the: probation officer discusses this with the service manager, and the service manager discusses with the area manager.
3	If the probation officer is still considering the cancellation of an ES order, then the probation officer discusses this with the ES operations adviser, who will discuss with the assistant director, psychological services.
4	Upon confirmation from the ES operations adviser, the PO notifies the relevant psychologist to seek approval for an ES psychological health assessment from the director, psychological services, via the principal psychologist.
5	The director, psychological services, decides whether to request an ES psychological health assessment to: assess risk of re-offending, and recommend whether a cancellation application should be made.
6	The director, psychological services, notifies the ES coordinator if a health assessment is requested. The ES coordinator enters the offender into the ES assessment spreadsheet.
7	The psychological health assessment proceeds as per the process for primary ES assessments, up to and including approval of any cancellation application by the general manager, CPPS.
8	If a cancellation application is recommended, the process for primary ES applications will be followed.

Cancellations: offender application

If an offender applies for cancellation of their ES order, the crown solicitor will be instructed to act for the Department of Corrections. Under normal circumstances the Department of Corrections would not support the cancellation application. The crown solicitor will liaise with the CPPS head office to determine whether a psychological health assessment is needed in order to defend application.

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