The State of Western Australia v Winder

In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the State of Western Australia applied for a further supervision order under the High Risk Serious Offenders Act 2020 (WA) in relation to Murray John Winder, who had previously been subject to a supervision order under the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006 (WA). The application followed a preliminary hearing to determine whether there were reasonable grounds for believing that the court might find that Mr Winder was a high-risk serious offender. The primary legal issue before the court was whether there were reasonable grounds for believing that Mr Winder was a high-risk serious offender. The court considered the evidence presented, including expert reports and assessments, which indicated that Mr Winder's risk of reoffending was moderate, placing him in Risk Level III – Average Risk. Despite this, the court found that there were reasonable grounds for believing that Mr Winder might be a high-risk serious offender due to his past risk level and certain areas of concern identified in the risk assessments.

The court ordered that Mr Winder undergo examination by a psychiatrist and a qualified psychologist to prepare reports for the final determination of the restriction order application. Additionally, the court made an interim supervision order for Mr Winder, substantially in the terms of the previous order, with amendments to reflect the standard conditions required by the HRSO Act. The interim order included conditions for GPS tracking and exclusion zones, with the court noting the potential benefits of reducing these conditions to allow Mr Winder to engage in culturally appropriate activities, subject to the discretion of his community corrections officers.