Overview

Risk assessment has become an increasingly central focus across many areas of psychological practice, not only in forensic settings but also in clinical, counselling, and community mental health contexts. Assessing and managing risk is especially crucial when working with individuals who have engaged in harmful or high-risk behaviours, including sexual offending. In these situations, psychologists may be called upon to contribute to important decisions about supervision, treatment planning, release, and ongoing management.

To be truly effective, risk assessment must offer more than a prediction of future behaviour, it should also guide meaningful intervention and support risk management strategies. One widely adopted approach to this work is the Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) model, which combines evidence-based guidelines with clinical expertise.

The Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol – Version 2 (RSVP-V2) is the most recently developed update to SPJ guidelines that were first devised in 1997. This one-day workshop will provide practitioners with the knowledge and skills to effectively use the RSVP-V2 in applied practice. Participants will be provided with an overview of the SPJ decision-making approach, awareness of important updates and additions that were made during the RSVP-V2 revision process, and a thorough understanding of how to code each of the 23 risk factors. They will learn how to use the RSVP-V2 to assist in formulation, identifying likely risk scenarios, and developing robust risk management plans. This workshop is an opportunity to learn how to use the RSVP-V2 from two of its authors.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Have an understanding of pertinent issues in regard to sexual violence risk assessment.
• Understand the Structured Professional Judgement approach to sexual violence risk assessment and appreciate the differences to actuarial prediction approaches.
• Be aware of the research underpinning the RSVP family of instruments.
• Be cognisant of the RSVP-V2 administration procedure.
• Develop skills in coding the RSVP-V2 risk factors.
• Learn how to use the results to develop appropriate risk management plans to reduce and contain the risk of sexual violence.

Presenter(s)

About the presenter(s)

Dr. Michael R Davis is a Consultant Forensic Clinical Psychologist in full-time private practice. He is an Adjunct Research Fellow with the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the Department of Psychiatry at Monash University, and an Honorary Fellow with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne (Australia). Dr Davis is a Consultant to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) and a Senior Consultant to the Children’s Court Clinic (Victoria). He was previously the National Chair of the College of Forensic Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society.

Dr Davis’ consulting practice is divided between forensic assessment tasks (particularly the assessment of risk, sexual deviance, and personality disorder) and providing behavioural investigative advice to police agencies. He has completed hundreds of risk assessments for the courts, government departments, and prosecution and defence lawyers over the course of two decades of practice. Dr Davis has consulted with police in several countries across three continents and is the only mental health professional in Australia to be elected to membership of the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship (ICIAF). He also serves as an Instructor to the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI and is co-author of the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol - Version 2 (RSVP-V2).

Dr. Rajan Darjee is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in private practice, Clinical Director (Psychiatry) of Forensic Behavioural Assessment and Consultation Services (FBACS), and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology. He trained and worked as a consultant in forensic psychiatry in Scotland for twenty years before moving to Australia in 2018 where he initially worked at the Forensicate Problem Behaviour Program before a role as Deputy Statewide Speciality Director of the Forensic Mental Health Service in Tasmania. In Scotland he was the first mental health professional to be a Board Member of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, he was the National Clinical Lead for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and Sexual Offending, and he was the first expert accredited by the Risk Management Authority (RMA) to assess risk in serious violent and sexual offenders being considered for indeterminate sentencing in the High Court of Justiciary.

He has extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of people who have committed sexual abuse and people with paraphilic disorders in criminal justice, clinical and legal settings, including undertaking assessments of people who have committed serious sexual offences for post-sentence supervision and detention across multiple Australian jurisdictions. His current research is on sexual homicide, online child sexual abuse, and atypical homicide. He has written over 90 academic publications, including chapters in recent/forthcoming international textbooks on sexual homicide, online child sexual abuse, the problem behaviour model, pharmacological treatment of sexual offenders, sexual sadism, paedophilia, multi-agency management of high risk sexual and violent offenders, and serial murder. He is co-author of the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol - Version 2 (RSVP-V2).

Notes

Getting to Vibe Hotel Melbourne
Location:
Vibe Hotel Melbourne
1 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
(Corner of Flinders Street and Queen Street)

Public Transport:
The hotel is well-serviced by public transport:

Train: Just a 7-minute walk from Flinders Street Station.
Tram: Multiple tram routes (including 70, 75, 48, 58, and the free City Circle 35) stop right outside on Flinders Street.
Bus: Several bus routes stop within walking distance.

Parking:
The hotel offers limited on-site valet parking (fees apply). Alternatively, nearby public parking options include:

Secure Parking – 376 Flinders Street
Wilson Parking – 474 Flinders Lane

Accessibility:
Vibe Hotel Melbourne is fully wheelchair accessible with lift access to all function spaces.

For directions and more information, visit:
🔗 www.vibehotels.com/hotel/melbourne

Target Audience

This activity is aimed at psychologists and health professionals.

Duration of Access

This event will not be recorded.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.