Children and young people are loved, safe and nurtured
A set of initiatives is being progressed to reduce the risk of sexual violence victims experiencing further trauma when participating in the court process.
These initiatives include legislative changes to: better protect complainants from inappropriate and unduly invasive questioning and to entitle complainants to give evidence in alternative ways; ensuring quality, specialist assistance is available where needed for witnesses to understand and respond to questions in court; and providing specialist training to equip lawyers with best practice techniques when questioning vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases.
The Sexual Violence Legislation Bill is making its way through the legislative process.
Judicial education and training for District Court Judges and defence lawyers is also underway, and a Code of Practice handbook and service specifications are being developed for the use of communication assistance.