Advancing Cross-Cultural Approaches to Forensic Risk Assessment

This thesis examined the Level of Service/Risk Needs Responsivity, a commonly used forensic risk assessment instrument that assesses an individual's risk of recidivism. By evaluating several different definitions of statistical fairness, this thesis looked at whether this risk assessment instrument was performing fairly between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders previously charged with a serious violent offence. Using novel statistical learning techniques, this thesis then sought to improve the fairness between these two groups while also examining the inherent trade-offs that exist between certain fairness definitions.