Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Sentencing Act 1991 - SECT 18ZQ

Drug treatment order assessment reports

18ZQ. Drug treatment order assessment reports



(1) If the Drug Court is considering making a drug treatment order at any
stage after a defendant has indicated an intention to plead guilty to an
offence, or has pleaded guilty to an offence, it must-

   (a)  order a drug treatment order assessment report on the defendant; and

   (b)  adjourn the proceeding to enable the report to be prepared by a
        specified Drug Court officer.





(2) The purpose of a drug treatment order assessment report is-

   (a)  to establish whether the defendant is a suitable person to be subject
        to a drug treatment order; and

   (b)  if so-

   (i)  to prepare a case management plan for the defendant; and

   (ii) to establish whether the facilities necessary to implement that plan
        exist and, if so, to identify those facilities; and

   (iii) to make recommendations to the Drug Court on the program conditions
        that should be attached to a drug treatment order in respect of the
        defendant.

(3) If the Drug Court grants a defendant bail on an adjournment under
subsection (1) it must, for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of the
report, impose a condition of bail requiring the defendant to-

   (a)  report to the specified Drug Court officer, or other specified person
        or body, within a specified period; and

   (b)  comply with any further reporting requirements imposed by that
        officer, person or body.

(4) A drug treatment order assessment report may set out all or any of the
following matters which, on investigation, appear to the specified Drug Court
officer to be relevant to the assessment of the defendant and are readily
ascertainable by the officer-

   (a)  the defendant's age;

   (b)  the defendant's social history and background;

   (c)  the defendant's medical and psychiatric history, including details of
        any treatment the defendant has undergone for drug or alcohol
        dependency;

   (d)  the defendant's educational background;

   (e)  the defendant's employment history;

   (f)  the circumstances of any other offences of which the defendant has
        been found guilty;

   (g)  the extent to which the defendant-

   (i)  has complied with any sentence that is no longer in force in respect
        of him or her; and

   (ii) is complying with any sentence currently in force in respect of him or
        her;

   (h)  the defendant's financial circumstances;

        (i)    the defendant's housing history and needs;

   (j)  any special needs of the defendant;

   (k)  any course, program, treatment, therapy or other assistance that could
        be available to the offender and from which he or she may benefit.

(5) The specified Drug Court officer must include in the report any other
matter relevant to the defendant which the Drug Court has directed to be set
out in the report.

(6) The report must be filed with the Drug Court no later than the time
directed by the Court.





(7) Within a reasonable time after the report is filed and before a drug
treatment order is made, the specified Drug Court officer must provide a copy
of the report to-

   (a)  the prosecutor; and

   (b)  the defendant's legal practitioner; and

   (c)  if the Drug Court directs the officer to do so, the defendant.

(8) The prosecution or defence may file with the Drug Court a notice of
intention to dispute all or any part of a drug treatment order assessment
report.

(9) If a notice is filed before a drug treatment order is made, the Drug Court
must not take the disputed report or disputed part of the report into
consideration when making the order unless the party that filed the notice has
been given the opportunity-

   (a)  to lead evidence on the disputed matters; and

   (b)  to cross-examine the specified Drug Court officer on its contents.

(10) For the purposes of section 91 of the Corrections Act 1986, an officer
referred to in that section who discloses to the specified Drug Court officer
information about the defendant for the purposes of the preparation of a drug
treatment order assessment report is taken to be performing his or her
official duties.