House of Representatives

Second Reading Speech

Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs - Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary)

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Sexual assault can have devastating, cumulative and long-lasting effects on the lives of victims and survivors, their families and communities. I recognise this and thank victims and survivors for their advocacy for law reform in this space.

The Australian government is deeply committed to improving criminal justice responses to sexual assault. This means ensuring the criminal justice system supports vulnerable people at all stages of the criminal justice process.

The Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024 amends the Crimes Act 1914 to strengthen protections for vulnerable persons involved in Commonwealth criminal proceedings.

This builds on the extensive work of the Australian government throughout this parliamentary term in leading a national discussion on strengthening criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

In the 2023-24 budget, the Australian government announced that it is investing $14.7 million to strengthen the way the criminal justice system responds to sexual assault to prevent further harm to victims and survivors. This includes an Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into justice responses to sexual violence; a lived experience expert advisory group to support that inquiry; and a ministerial-level national roundtable to drive nationwide, cross-sector collaboration and inform the terms of that inquiry.

That work is now well underway. Last August, with my colleagues, the member for Kingston, as the Minister for Social Services, and Senator Gallagher, as the Minister for Women, I convened the ministerial national roundtable, and the Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry has now commenced. Eminent Australian lawyers Marcia Neave AO and Judge Liesl Kudelka will conduct this inquiry. I expect the ALRC inquiry to conclude early next year.

This bill implements several outstanding recommendations regarding the prerecording of evidence from the 2017 final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The bill also supports victims and survivors by:

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expanding the scope of existing offences to which additional protections apply;

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addressing barriers that may deter witnesses from giving evidence; and

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ensuring that victims and survivors can speak out about their experiences should they wish to do so.

The bill expands the range of offences covered by existing protections for vulnerable persons in Commonwealth criminal proceedings, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and drug offences. It ensures adult complainants are able to access vulnerable witness protections for offences that occurred while they were children, recognising that it may take many years for victims and survivors to disclose their abuse. These amendments reflect the broad range of offences impacting vulnerable people.

The bill introduces a range of measures to address the admissibility of evidence concerning vulnerable people. Evidence about a vulnerable person's reputation with respect to their sexual activities will be made inadmissible. Greater restrictions are also placed on sexual experience evidence, making it inadmissible except in limited circumstances and where the court grants leave. This type of evidence is ordinarily too far removed from evidence of the alleged crime for its admission to be in the interests of justice, and can retraumatise vulnerable persons by victim blaming. A court will therefore need to be satisfied that sexual experience evidence is substantially relevant to the proceedings, and to consider whether its probative value outweighs any distress, humiliation or embarrassment to the vulnerable person.

The bill addresses barriers that may deter vulnerable witnesses from giving evidence. The new measures allow for a vulnerable person to give evidence by way of video or audio recording, and for evidence to be recorded for use at subsequent proceedings. Importantly, witnesses will not be required to see the defendant when giving recorded evidence, and it will be an offence to intentionally copy, damage, alter, possess or supply recordings of the evidence. This aims to reduce the risk of retraumatising victims and survivors and will enable vulnerable persons to give evidence in a safe, controlled format.

Due process for defendants is retained as defendants will be provided with the opportunity to observe the evidence-recording hearing (as they would be during an ordinary hearing) and will have access to relevant evidence recordings.

The bill supports the voices of victims and survivors by ensuring they are empowered to speak out, if they choose to do so. The bill makes it clear that the current restriction on publishing material that identifies another person as a child witness, child complainant or vulnerable adult complainant in a proceeding does not apply to a person who publishes material that identifies themselves. The bill will also remove the requirement for the proceedings to be finalised before such a publication may occur, and clarifies the law that there is no restriction on identifying a vulnerable person who is deceased.

Not only do these amendments ensure victims and survivors are able and supported to speak out should they wish to do so, but they also present an opportunity for the public to gain a better understanding of sexual violence from the perspective of victims and survivors. Most importantly, these changes give victims and survivors back their voice as well as the agency and power to control their own stories and experiences. Limiting this provision to victims and survivors balances providing a legal mechanism to support them to speak out while preserving the ability for victims and survivors to maintain their privacy. This safeguard ensures that the choice is that of the individual, and that they are empowered but not obliged to tell their story.

These reforms will progress the work of the government under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 and the Standing Council of Attorneys-General's work plan to strengthen criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

This bill is an important step towards creating better outcomes for vulnerable persons in Commonwealth criminal proceedings through strengthened protections and enhanced safeguards. The amendments aim to minimise the risk of retraumatisation, and provide greater assurance that vulnerable persons will be treated with appropriate sensitivity when appearing as witnesses or complainants in criminal proceedings. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.