risk & threat assessment

Where there are concerns that a person poses a risk of any of the following behaviours we can undertake an assessment of risk using an evidence-based and best practice approach incorporating the use of validated structured instruments.   

Our assessments include consideration of the nature, likelihood, severity and imminence of potential future harmful behaviour, and recommendations on mitigating risks through bolstering protective factors, monitoring, supervision, treatment, and victim safety planning.   

Behaviours we have expertise and experience of assessing and managing include: 

• Sexual offending, including online sexual offending 
• Stalking 
• Intimate partner and family violence 
• Fire setting  
• Fantasies or threats to kill or cause serious harm 
• Other types of violence 
• Grievance-driven and extremist violence 

Although overlapping with risk assessment and management, threat assessment is about identifying if an individual or group of individuals has the potential to enact targeted violence, proximal factors indicating that such a threat is escalating, and interventions to monitor and mitigate the threat.

We can offer comprehensive threat assessments, including threat management recommendations and can work with multi-agency teams to manage threats in various contexts (including health care settings, educational and work settings, with law enforcement agencies, and in the criminal justice system). 

Types of threats include:

• Potential lone actors, 
• Grievance fuelled violence, 
• Vexatious complaints, 
• Threats of committing extremist or mass violence, 
• Death threats towards specific individuals or groups, 
• Threats to commit sexual violence, stalking, intimate partner and family violence 

Threat assessments can be undertaken through interviewing individuals of concern, reviewing relevant records and documents, speaking with potential victims or targets, and/or speaking to staff from relevant services or agencies. Threat assessment consultations can be undertaken without interviewing the person of concern or where no such person has been identified. If a service or agency are concerned about the threat posed to them or others in such contexts we are happy to discuss whether our expertise may be helpful. 

When considering whether it is safe for an individual to possess a fire arm mental health and considerations of risk to self or others is an important consideration. 

We can undertake diagnostic assessments and assessments of risk of violence or self-harm to help inform considerations of whether an individual should be granted a gun licence.