Wednesday, 6 April 2022

Motions

Sexual offence reporting

Mr GRIMLEY (Western Victoria) (11:37): I move:

That this house:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s (VLRC) report Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences found that approximately 87 per cent of people who experience sexual violence do not report it to the police;

(b) the VLRC report found reasons sexual assault victim-survivors do not report to police include wanting to explore restorative justice processes, negative perceptions of police or thinking their sexual assault is not serious enough to warrant a police report;

(c) a sexual assault reporting option (SARO) is an alternative reporting mechanism that allows victim-survivors to report a range of sexual crimes to designated agencies and receive appropriate support;

(d) the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault ran the Sexual Assault Report Anonymously service in Victoria until 2020 where it received 1200 reports each year;

(e) in addition to other jurisdictions, NSW’s SARO has successfully led to prosecutions on crimes such as sexual assaults and drink spiking; however, the NSW model is not deemed best practice and improvements should be made when adopting the system in Victoria;

(f) a SARO was recommended by the VLRC report;

(2) calls on the government to:

(a) commit to implementing a SARO;

(b) begin an Engage Victoria consultation and round table with stakeholders to develop a best practice SARO model; and

(3) requires the government to table a report on the findings of the Engage Victoria consultation outlined in paragraph (2)(b) in the Legislative Council by 1 September 2022.

I rise to speak on my motion 752 about sexual assault alternative reporting options. Just before I start my contribution, I will be using the acronym ARO, alternative reporting option, not to be confused with the New South Wales SARO, which has had extensive media coverage and which is not necessarily best practice.

There are many reasons why victims choose not to report a sexual assault against them. These can include ‘I didn’t think it was serious enough to report’, ‘I didn’t want the perpetrator to go to jail or to know that I’d made a police complaint’, ‘I’ve had bad relationships with the police in the past, so I wasn’t too keen on talking to them’, ‘ This is just the industry I’m in; it always happens’ and ‘I didn’t know where to go to report this’. Unfortunately there are plenty more reasons. It is not for us to judge why someone does or does not report, but we do have an obligation to make sure that they have an accessible alternative option to tell someone or to report the abuse.

I have spoken in this place too many times to count about sexual assault and especially about the lack of reporting and the lack of data collection. It is simple: we do not have enough reliable data on how widespread this issue is. I will rattle off just two statistics today that will hopefully accentuate the problem of under-reporting. The 2016 personal safety survey found that 34 per cent of women who did not report their most recent incident of sexual assault by a male perpetrator to police said it was because they did not regard the incident as a serious offence. Plus the VLRC report Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences, which recommended an ARO, states that at least 70 per cent of people who experience sexual violence do not report it to the police. In fact only about half even seek support from someone, usually from family or friends. This proposal has also been discussed and recommended by many stakeholders and the victim-survivor community for many years preceding the release of this report.

It was just this month that the major universities took part in the national student safety survey. It was once again damning. RMIT University found that:

More than 50% … don’t know where to go to make a complaint about sexual harassment or sexual assault.

In this day and age I find this response incredibly alarming.

In response to a question without notice that I raised with the Attorney-General in late February, the government unfortunately remained noncommittal on the recommendation of an ARO. The motion I have introduced is very straightforward and is asking the government to do three things: firstly, commit to implementing an online alternative reporting mechanism for sexual assault; secondly, begin an Engage Victoria consultation process, including round tables with stakeholders, to develop an evidence-based reporting option for sexual assaults; and thirdly, to table a report on the findings of the Engage Victoria consultation in this place by 1 September 2022.

I expect the government may say to the house today that there could not be enough time or there may not be enough time to conduct the consultation, especially in the time frame specified in the motion. However, precedent has been set through other Engage Victoria processes that would allow this time line to be absolutely met. The property market review went for under two months. The review of Victoria’s approach to illicit tobacco regulation was open for 3½ months. The Aboriginal self-determination and education process had a time line of four months. And to demonstrate how quickly the government can act on certain issues, it was 26 November 2020 when former Attorney-General Jill Hennessy asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to conduct the ‘grab and drag’ review, just eight days after the sentencing of Jackson Williams and on the day that the e-petition with over 100 000 signatures was presented to Parliament. We ask them to commit to the same urgency that we know they have committed to in the past. We think this time line is sound and achievable.

One victim who wanted to use only her first name—we will use a pseudonym and call her Ellie—was sexually assaulted by her friend’s father when she was around 15 years old. Coincidentally I worked with Ellie on another matter when I was in the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team, so it is a bit of a full circle for me. I helped her in the court process, and now I am speaking about her in regard to implementing a law, which is quite surreal. But on the alternative reporting option, she said that she was fully supportive, saying:

… reporting online is less traumatic and allows your emotions to not come to the surface until [the person is] ready … it allows control over my story.

This is what this motion is essentially all about. I have had plenty of other feedback from sexual assault survivors, both young and historical, including a very brave young lady, Mikaylah, who is here today and joined me this morning on the doorstep. I will not rehash what all of the victim-survivor comments are, because I do not think I need to convince anyone here that this is what victim-survivors want.

New South Wales have had a sexual assault reporting option since 2012. It was made more well known, though, as a result of the Chanel Contos advocacy and Operation Vest. Whilst this particular model of an online reporting option is not recognised as best practice, as some questions are not trauma informed, it has had incredible success since its implementation. Two examples that New South Wales police shared with my office about its benefits, besides the obvious general intelligence gathering, include: firstly, with a string of drink spikings reported through the SARO, New South Wales police were able to get their liquor licensing division to work with venues cited in the report, and they then were able to conduct training and provide information for managers and staff about how to spot and reduce sexual assaults and poor behaviour; secondly, in one case New South Wales police told us about, they had a survivor who had described her perpetrator in great detail and with a similar modus operandi to one in a court case that was being put together by more than a handful of other victims—long story short, with further investigation the victim was added to the court case, and they were able to get a prosecution, including for that victim’s allegation. Whilst New South Wales police make it clear that the SARO is not about prosecutions, this would have been an incredibly fantastic feeling for that victim to receive some form of justice. The New South Wales SARO is not best practice in its current form. For instance, you need to download and fill out a form, and some of the questions have been identified as slightly inappropriate by victims. However, New South Wales are currently undergoing a review of the way the SARO is set up and hope to have changes implemented this year.

Queensland have an alternative reporting option run by their police, which is a modern online form. There are also examples of alternative reporting in Western Australia, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania as well as nationally and overseas.

We are not proposing a Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party model of a SARO, as there are many issues that need to be fleshed out properly. This has become evident through extensive consultation by my office for this motion. We recognise that the ideal way to create a best practice ARO is to commit to adequate consultation and round tables with key organisations and victims of crime. Some of the issues we have identified through speaking with stakeholders are the following: firstly, who does the ARO sit with and who manages it? And also: how does mandatory reporting of children intersect with this platform? In New South Wales, for example, their SARO front page makes it clear that if the report is about children, the police must notify community services. Also, how does the issue of subpoenaed documents affect the alternative reporting options if at all? And how do we give victims agency through the ARO to control their story? These are some of the questions that we envisage the Engage Victoria process will address, asking stakeholders.

In drawing up this motion we have conducted extensive discussions with relevant and key organisations and people. These include: Victoria Police, including Wendy Steendam, deputy commissioner, family violence and sexual assault; Lauren Callaway, assistant commissioner, family violence, sexual assault and child abuse; and Juliann Goldrick, detective inspector, stranger-based violence. They include academics such as Patrick Tidmarsh, who trains police in sexual abuse investigations; Georgina Heydon, who is here with us also today, present in the gallery; and Sophie Hindes from RMIT University. Thank you very much for your feedback. They are currently investigating best practice for alternative reporting options. They include victim-survivors, both in younger and historic child sexual assault demographics. Thanks once again to Mikaylah, a very brave young woman. They include various agencies, such as: Sexual Assault Service Victoria; the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre, with a letter of support from their CEO, Helen Bolton; and, of course, Child Safe Strategies CEO Debbie Boyse, who is also here today in the gallery. Thank you for your support. Many others have been invited to take part in this consultation.

The victims of crime commissioner also in her submission stated in relation to the SARO:

Given the individual and structural barriers faced by some victims of crime to reporting a crime, anonymous and confidential reporting options should be available as part of a suite of options for victims of sexual assault so that victims can engage with the justice system in a way that best meets their safety and justice needs.

That is just a classic example of how much we need this alternative reporting option, sooner rather than later.

In conclusion, I do not think that this motion is controversial in any respect. I think that we as policymakers do have an obligation to support victim-survivors of sexual assault, and this is one way that we can absolutely do that. Rather than just speak about it, we can actually do something. I will conclude by quoting the Attorney-General, who said in response to a question I asked earlier this year:

We—

the government—

want to have a state where those that experience sexual offending can come forward and report those crimes …

I absolutely agree with this statement. Therefore I do not see what is holding up the consultation and implementation of an alternative reporting option. We need to stop sitting on our hands and show that we stand with the victims of crime and just get this done. I commend this motion to the house

Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (11:48): Thanks, Mr Grimley, for bringing this motion to the house today and for continuing a discussion which I know you have argued for, advocated for and been in this place for since you were elected.

I want to begin by acknowledging the enormous level of courage and bravery that it takes to be part of this really public discussion on really private, confronting and traumatic issues. I particularly want to acknowledge the victim-survivors who have been part of telling the story of what is their own experience—what are your own experiences—in trying to confront deficiencies in the system, which have in too many instances compounded the discrepancy in power that exists in situations of sexual violence; the gendered nature of what it is that women are confronted with and by in instances of sexual violence; the way in which this sits alongside matters associated with consent and with financial, sexual, social and health-based independence and freedom; and the importance of understanding that we as governments need to do better.

Now, against the backdrop of that starting point, I want to turn to a number of the things that Mr Grimley has addressed in his motion which I think are of enormous significance in outlining the principles that are important as part of overall system and policy reform. The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC), as Mr Grimley has noted, has been part of the way in which this issue has been explored in some considerable detail, and I just want to put on the record the interrelationship between this work, the Royal Commission into Family Violence and the work we are doing on consent reform, and I note that today is the commencement of these changes, this reform to the way in which stalking laws and other matters associated with family violence can and indeed should be investigated and prosecuted to the benefit of victim-survivors. This is a conversation about changing the dynamic to provide victims and survivors with a better level of autonomy and of dignity in the way in which courts, governments, law enforcement agencies and bodies and the community in general respond to these issues of extreme injury, hurt, distress and trauma.

We have seen an exponential increase in the way in which sexual assault and sexual violence matters are reported or disclosed, but what we also know is that there are significant barriers to reporting and to disclosure that continue to serve as an enormous barrier, often an insurmountable barrier, to having a conversation with authorities. These reasons range from a concern, often really embedded, that victim-survivors will not be believed—a perception based all too often in reality that in order to have a story understood it will need to be told over and over and over again, thus compounding the trauma that is already there, exposing further the shame and the humiliation that sits all too often at the heart of matters like this; the lack of support services to wrap around victims and survivors; and the anticipation of a journey that will need to be walked alone without necessarily an understanding of how the system works, which is a significant disincentive.

We have seen this spike in matters, as I referred to earlier, in reporting, but it is about making sure that in responding to those themes that have been identified by the VLRC, by the reports and inquiries—including, as I said earlier, the family violence royal commission, as well as the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, as well as the changes that we are making to consent—and in the course of consultation we are making sure that we are directing additional resources to where they can do the best work, the most effective work and the work which goes to the heart of the policy challenges: the shortcomings and the need for reform and improvement.

The issues that Mr Grimley has raised relating to online reporting and to the important option for addressing high levels of under-reporting of sexual offences are matters that the Victorian government, as the Attorney-General has indicated in this place and in response to questions from Mr Grimley previously, is stepping through in consultation and in discussion with key stakeholders. I know that it is not fast enough for those people who have been part of the system, not through their own choice or design but because of the circumstances in which they have been victims and survivors or family and support and carers for those who have been victims and survivors. It is really important that as we engage with the VLRC findings and with stakeholders associated with this process we are doing so thoroughly and carefully so that we do not then have to come back and retrofit improvements into the system down the track.

This again may seem painfully slow, may seem hopelessly inadequate, but it is another step, I think, in a direction which will ultimately take us to a better system and a system which in fact continues to engage with people on the terms that are best for them, as people within the system find themselves all too often without access to information that they need, all too often without access to referral pathways which are right for them and all too often without the care and assistance that they need to in fact process, through the administration of justice or through other channels, the trauma, the distress and the injury that they have faced.

One of the things that is also important in the context of the response that government is part of considering and then indeed implementing is the complexity of these issues. Every instance of sexual assault and violence has key themes in relation to the exploitation of the victim-survivor, the way in which systems are used to the benefit of the perpetrator in too many instances and the way in which victim-survivors are left without the necessary recourse or support other than through ad hoc or indeed organically developed systems of support, often within community and often as part of word of mouth or indeed as people coming together, for example, in online forums, to discuss what they have been through, what it is that they need and what it is that is missing.

There are also really serious barriers to specific cohorts within our communities across the state, and this is something which has been noted across a range of different jurisdictions: that specific vulnerabilities require specific solutions tailored to understanding and addressing need. This includes people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people from our First Nations communities, members of our LGBTIQA+ communities, the very young and the very old—and again these are similarities which exist across a range of different inquiries and commissions that we have undertaken and that are being undertaken at a federal level as well. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, the Royal Commission into Family Violence, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System—these are processes, again, which seem in too many instances to be cumbersome and to be drawn out, but they are fundamentally about reforming systems which for too long have let down victims and survivors and for too long have failed to actually accommodate the specific needs of victims and survivors across a range of different circumstances.

We need to make sure that there is better trust in the system. The way in which we build that is through stakeholder engagement and consultation, through uncomfortable but necessary conversations and through the sorts of reforms which brought Mr Grimley here to this place and for which I commend him.

Ms BURNETT-WAKE (Eastern Victoria) (11:58): I rise to speak to the motion moved by Mr Grimley. The opposition have been pushing for an informal reporting option for victims of sexual assault for quite some time. To implement a flexible and informal reporting option for victim-survivors of sexual assault is in fact one of the policies of the Liberal-Nationals should we get into government, as announced in April last year.

For many women and girls, being a victim of sexual assault brings a lot of shame. The element of fear does not disappear after the assault itself. It lingers. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 survey, one in five Australian women and one in 20 men have experienced sexual assault since the age of 15. Most of these assaults occur in private spaces, behind closed doors, without witnesses. Not only does this make sexual assaults difficult to prosecute, but also it makes victims fearful of being believed. The figures reflect that almost nine in 10 women, 87 per cent, do not contact police after being sexually assaulted. Many are worried that their experience will not be taken seriously or that they will be labelled a liar.

Business interrupted pursuant to sessional orders.