Addressing sexual violence and harm

The Victorian Government welcomes the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s (VLRC) report Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences – a landmark contribution to the Government’s strategy to address sexual violence and harm. The VLRC’s work will help us to lead transformational change to service and justice system responses and reshaping community attitudes to prevent harm before it occurs.

Commissioned by former Attorney-General Jill Hennessy, the report is the result of a comprehensive review of the justice system’s response to rape, sexual assault and child sexual offences. The VLRC was tasked with investigating how we can make sure our laws, systems and institutions respond effectively to sexual offending and keep our community and victim-survivors safe.

These findings are the result of dedicated work from not only the VLRC, but many victim-survivors, advocates, specialist sexual assault services and experts working in the justice system – the Government acknowledges their suffering, strength and resilience and thanks them for sharing their experiences.

In line with the report’s recommendations, the government is exploring ways to better meet the needs of victim-survivors seeking support and justice. Work will commence immediately to strengthen our consent laws, adopt an affirmative model of consent and explicitly criminalise stealthing, in consultation with victim-survivors and the justice and specialist service sector. This reform will send a powerful message about the standards expected to ensure consent.

While these changes are extremely important, they are just one part of a vision of a system that actively works to support victim-survivors in seeking justice. Indeed, they will constitute only the first suite of reforms Government will pursue as part of the 10 year Victorian Government strategy to address sexual violence and harm.

The report makes 91 recommendations in total, which go to:

  • strengthening legislation to improve outcomes and experiences throughout the trial process
  • challenging attitudes that drive or normalise sexual violence and harm
  • establishing new justice pathways recognising that Victorians have diverse backgrounds, different experiences and diverse justice needs
  • underpinning reform with high quality data and evidence, and effective governance to monitor reform implementation and drive ongoing improvements
  • expanding or enhancing vital support services and workforce capabilities.

The Government is carefully considering each recommendation in the report, and commencing preparatory work on what will be significant reforms. Many of these recommendations will complement reforms already in place or under development, as part of our response to gender inequality and family violence in Victoria. We know that all too often, these attitudes, behaviours and crimes are co-occurring, and the resulting harm is cumulative for victim-survivors, their families and communities.

In taking the necessary time to consider the VLRC’s recommendations in detail, extensive consultation with victim-survivors and stakeholders will begin over the coming months. We will work closely with specialist and community sector services, government departments and agencies, law enforcement and courts, and we’ll ensure that lived experience is at the centre of these reforms to build effective and long-lasting change.