Victorian authorities should have been notified when a high-risk parolee was admitted to a psychiatric ward weeks before killing his partner, a coroner says.
Margaret Burton, 40, was killed at her Hoppers Crossing home in June 2009 by Jayson Hawkins, who was on parole at the time and had recently been released from Werribee Hospital's psychiatric ward.
Hawkins, 37, killed himself in custody six months later, while awaiting trial for Ms Burton's murder.
State Coroner Judge Ian Gray has recommended the Adult Parole Board be notified whenever a parolee is admitted as a psychiatric patient.
"An 'escalation' in a mental state should trigger a heightened response from the system. So much seems obvious," he said on Thursday.
He said the risk assessment tool used on Hawkins relied too heavily on subjective reporting.
"I was struck by the degree to which there has been a reliance on self-assessment," he said.
"It is a clear weakness in the system."
The parole board has since introduced a new risk assessment procedure.
Sandra Betts, whose daughter Raechel was murdered by paroled killer John Leslie Coombes in 2009, said recent changes had improved her confidence in the parole system.
"At least there's some hope that there are some serious improvements from what the state of play was," she told reporters.
"I think the public needs to keep an eye on how well it's working to make sure the department is doing what the public needs."
Ms Betts called for more rigorous checks of violent parolees' addresses, as well as more thorough psychiatric assessments.
A number of murders by parolees, including that of Ms Betts and Ms Burton, triggered a sweeping review of the Adult Parole Board by former High Court Justice Ian Callinan.
Last year's Callinan review found that violent criminals had been released without proper consideration of public safety.
Judge Gray said it was reasonable to conclude that the response to murders by parolees had been unacceptable until 2011, when a review was conducted into nine recent parolee murders.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
Share
