This government has been absolutely committed to sexual assault reform, which is
evident by the number of pieces of legislation that have come before this house.
Indeed, quite recently in debate on the Crimes Amendment (Rape) Bill 2007 a
number of members spoke about the experiences of women who had been raped and
the need to create a judicial environment that obviously would not only
encourage more women to report rape but also not add to the actual
trauma of the experience that they had already gone through.
Horrific as the experience of rape is, it is absolutely beyond
my comprehension that the act of rape can and does occur upon a child, children
or persons with a cognitive physical impairment. It is with this absolute lack
of acquiescence in the act of rape that we as legislators need to make sure we
do everything possible to alleviate the trauma of those witnesses going through
the judicial system. We are about trying to improve the experiences of witnesses
who have to give evidence in sexual offence matters, and in this case it is in
relation to children and people with a cognitive impairment or disability. As I
said, it is about making sure that we do not add to the trauma they have already
experienced.
The bill before us today is to finetune legislation that was
introduced in 2005 and which set up a special system for children and people
with cognitive impairment to give evidence at special hearings. We have now seen
that procedure operate for some time, and as a result of that experience it is
believed improvements can be made by further reducing the trauma experienced by
vulnerable witnesses. That leads us to debate the bill before the house this
evening.
This bill amends the Evidence Act 1958 and related acts to
provide a more effective and efficient timetabling process for the holding of
special hearings. The bill is necessary to ensure one primary object of the
Victorian Law Reform Commission’s recommendation — that is, to improve the
system for children and cognitively impaired witnesses — and that this is not
undermined.
In summary, the main amendments to the bill are to extend the
time requirement for the holding of special hearings from 21 days to three
months, and this will address the administrative and timetabling difficulties
experienced to date. It will hopefully provide adequate time for parties to
prepare for the special hearings. It also provides that the County Court trial
for relevant sex offence matters must commence within three months after the
Magistrates Court committal, unless it is in the interests of justice to extend
this time.
The amendments are designed to enable the special hearings to
be held and the trial commenced before the same judge within three months of the
accused person being committed for trial. The bill is designed to ensure that
vulnerable witnesses still only attend once to give evidence whilst
simultaneously expediting the entire trial process, providing certainty for
complainants and other witnesses involved in the trial.
It will also realise efficiency gains by reducing duplication
of court resources, as both a special hearing and a court trial will be listed
before the same judge. It is further designed to ensure that pre-trial matters
are resolved prior to the scheduled special hearings, thereby preserving the
benefits for complainants of only one attendance to give evidence.
In addition to amendments to the special hearing process, the
bill also makes a small number of technical amendments and other changes as a
consequence of the experience gained through implementation of the Victorian Law
Reform Commission’s recommendations. In essence, the additional proposed
amendments will achieve consistency in terminology used across the act — for
example, the definition of ‘child’ will be changed in one section from under 17
years to under 18 years. It will remove ambiguity in the operation of some
provisions — for example, the use that can be made of certain types of
evidence.
It will update relevant sentencing schedules — for example, to
incorporate recently amended sexual offences as ‘serious sexual offender’
offences for the purposes of sentencing.
Stakeholders such as the County Court, the Office of Public
Prosecutions, Victoria Legal Aid, the Victorian Bar, Victoria Police and the
Department of Justice advisory committee charged with improving the criminal
justice response to sexual assault have been involved in consultation on the
bill as we are debating it tonight. They have all had input and are very
supportive of the finetuning.
This Brumby Labor government knows that legislative reform,
particularly when it comes to sexual assault, in itself alone will not change
the system for victims, which is why it is incredibly important that this
government delivers by providing money and resources to underpin the legislative
reform inroads we are making. This government has already provided $34 million
for initiatives to improve the justice system’s response to sexual assault
victims, as it was announced in the 2006-07 budget.
I was absolutely delighted that last Tuesday the Treasurer
announced that $8 million will be provided for a special sexual assault
prosecutions unit in Geelong. That will include prosecutors and also,
importantly, solicitors, as well as videoconferencing facilities. That will
enable people in rural and regional Victoria specifically to have access to
their judicial system so that they will not necessarily have to travel huge
distances from outlying areas. This is a fantastic announcement not just for
Geelong but for western Victoria.
The key is for all of us in all of our
communities to make sure that there is no room for sexual assault in our
communities. It is sad that we have to put in a lot of public money to set up
sexual prosecution units. The key is to change the mindset and create a cultural
change, where we demand that the only forms of relationships that we have are
respectful, regardless of the form of those relationships. All our interactions
need to be respectful. There is no place for people who exert their power over
others by committing sexual crimes in particular, whether they be against women,
children or people who have a disability.
As I said before, legislative reform is important. I am happy
to be part of a government that understands the importance of reform of sexual
assault law. This bill is also about changing the mindset and behaviour of
individuals; it is about creating a greater understanding that care and
responsibility is owned by individuals and communities.
This bill is about making sure that sexual assault is stamped
out not just in Geelong and western Victoria but in all of this great state of
Victoria. I commend this bill.