Under s 17(1) of the Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act 2006 (WA), once a court finds an offender is a serious danger to the community, it must make either a continuing detention order or a supervision order; there is no discretion to make no order. Psychiatric reports prepared under s 37 are admissible by virtue of the statutory scheme, and deficiencies in the factual basis of expert opinion go to weight rather than admissibility. The common law rules requiring warnings as to the right to silence do not apply to clinical psychiatric examinations conducted under the Act. Evidence of juvenile convictions and offending behaviour is admissible in DSO proceedings if otherwise relevant.
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