Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence)

“Labor is committed to strengthening and harmonising sexual assault and consent laws, and to improving outcomes and experiences for victims and survivors in our justice system. Providing trauma informed support and a secure victim- and survivor-centred experience at all stages of the criminal justice process helps ensure vulnerable persons are treated with sensitivity. It will also decrease the risk of retraumatisation and will have a positive impact on victims and survivors in their journeys to healing. This bill has my full support.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“CLAYDON (—) (): I thank all the speakers who have come before me to lend their support to this most important bill, the Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024, before the Australian parliament. This amendment to the Crimes Act, which will indeed strengthen the criminal justice response for victims and survivors of sexual assault in Australia, is important work of this parliament. It's been a long time coming, and I, along with many of my colleagues, have sat on numerous inquiries over the years and through important royal commissions and have read papers written by experts and, most importantly, the testimony of the victims and survivors themselves, who have called for these changes to occur in our criminal justice system. The legislation before the House today will go a long way to improving the experience of victims and survivors of sexual violence, particularly for vulnerable people in Commonwealth criminal proceedings.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“I too am going to speak on the Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024. As the Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence in the Albanese government, I'm very proud to be here today supporting this very comprehensive suite of reforms which stakeholders, experts and victims-survivors have been calling for. Many people right throughout the community—so many people—have been calling for this for a long period of time. I know I and my colleagues are all proud to be delivering this suite of measures to address these issues.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“For all those brave women and all women across the nation I stand today to support this bill. Like our Attorney-General, I recognise and thank all victims-survivors who have advocated for this much-needed reform. These efforts build upon the extensive work undertaken by our government since taking office, leading national discussions on strengthening responses to sexual assault.”

Australian Labor Party • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“These reforms better support victims and survivors engaged in the Commonwealth criminal justice system, whilst maintaining due process protections and ensuring that defendants continue to be tried fairly and impartially.”

Australian Labor Party • Senator • 27 Nov 2024

“I rise in support of the Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024. For survivors of sexual violence and abuse, participating in the criminal justice system is really challenging. To have suffered a traumatic event and then be expected to detail and relive the trauma again and again must be agonising. Coupled with the shame and stigma that so often accompanies these kinds of crimes, it's a situation that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.”

Independent • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“I commend the government, particularly the Attorney-General and his team, for this bill. It fixes some of the existing gaps in Commonwealth criminal proceedings. But, today, I call on the government and, indeed, all of us to do more to address sexual violence. This is something that shouldn't just happen in this place. These are conversations that we need to be having everywhere in our communities. More funding is needed to address current service black spots and waiting times for sexual assault services. As it stands, survivors are being told to wait months for trauma counselling. In the eastern region of Victoria, which includes my electorate of Goldstein, the waiting list for counselling is six to eight months. The Sexual Assault Crisis Line is the central after-hours coordination point in Victoria for responding to sexual assault. It can consistently respond to only 65 per cent of calls because it's so understaffed and underfunded. Waiting list times for men's behaviour change programs are too long. Men using violence are also on months long waiting lists. What happens to the men, women and children in-between?”

Independent • MP • 15 Feb 2024

“I rise today to support the introduction of the Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024. There is no doubt that the criminal justice process is distressing and traumatising for victims-survivors. From the very outset, it is a process that is challenging for victims-survivors to trust, especially given the common and unfortunately largely accurate perception that the criminal justice system is ineffective at prosecuting sexual offences. Even if a person feels able to report the offences committed against them, that is just the start of a process that will often serve to compound the trauma of the original assault. The adversarial justice system; the nature of the offences, which are often committed in private, where victims-survivors are the only witness; and the intractable, sexist perceptions of victims-survivors throughout our society—each of these factors makes seeking a conviction uniquely challenging in sexual violence matters.”

Independent • MP • 15 Feb 2024