Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry into Justice Responses to Sexual Violence

When it comes to sexual violence, this is a difficult question to answer. Nothing can put a victim back into the position they were in before the crime was committed. But most of us can tell you what justice isn’t; the criminal justice system.

Attorney-General the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into justice responses to sexual violence. The inquiry is being jointly led by the Hon Marcia Neave AO and Her Honour Judge Liesl Kudelka.

The terms of reference have regard to:

• laws and frameworks about evidence, court procedure and jury directions
• laws about consent
• policies, practices, decision-making and oversight and accountability mechanisms for police and prosecutors
• training and development for justice agents to enable trauma-informed and culturally safe justice responses
• supports offered to victims prior to reporting to after the conclusion of a trial
• alternatives or transformative approaches to criminal prosecutions, including civil claims, restorative justice and specialist courts

Importantly, the ALRC has been asked to consider the particular impacts of laws and legal frameworks on cohorts that are disproportionately affected by sexual violence. This includes women, First Nations people, people with disability, people who are LGBTQIA+, people who have been incarcerated, migrants and refugees impacted by an insecure visa status, sex workers, people in residential care settings, and older people, especially those experiencing cognitive decline.

Executive Director Sarah is one of eighteen lived experience experts on the Expert Advisory Group, charged with informing the 12-month inquiry and supporting the Commissioners in advising the government on implementing the inquiry’s recommendations. 

Transforming Inclusive Protection, Advocacy and Agency (TIPAA) Project

The TIPAA project is enacting recommendations from the Women’s Safety & Justice Taskforce of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Queensland. We are developing and evaluating a state-wide model for a victim advocacy service and an integrated response to sexual assault, with lived experience at the centre.

The project is being led by Associate Professor Mary Iliadis, alongside Associate Professor Dr. Lata Satyen, Associate Professor Clare Farmer and Professor John Toumbourou of the Deakin Network Against Gendered Violence, and conducted with sector partners such as Women’s Legal Services Australia.

Protecting sexual offence victims’ private information in court through Independent Legal Representation

Victims’ rights to privacy are overwhelmingly evaded. While all states have legislative protections in place, they have no meaningful, if any, legal avenue for victims to enforce them. 

Access to a victim’s private information is used to intimidate and discredit them based on archaic myths. Victim X’s diagnosis of PTSD following their assault is used to suggest that they are mentally unstable, and that the assault never happened. Their first disclosure to a counselling service is read to the perpetrator in court. Victim Y’s abortion as a teenager is used to suggest that she is a bad person and therefore less worthy of belief. The names of those she has had consensual sex with are dragged into criminal proceedings. Victim Z texted their Mum saying “maybe he didn’t mean to hurt me”. Their rebellious history in primary school due to undiagnosed ADHD is uncovered; they have a history of lying so they must be lying now.

With You We Can co-designed this Australian first study aiming to understand victims’ experiences in court, and whether their private information (medical or counselling records, sexual history and digital communications) was protected. Led by Associate Professor Mary Iliadis and Michael Salter, the study is a joint project between Deakin University, UNSW and Monash. It is funded by the Australian Institute of Criminology.