Thursday, 2 May 2024

Ministers statements: victim and witness support

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:14): I rise today as the Minister for Victim Support to update the house on the intermediary program, a trauma-informed service that supports victims and witnesses in communicating evidence to police and courts. The intermediary program is available to support children and adults with a cognitive impairment who are the complainants in sexual offence matters or a witness to a homicide.

We know how daunting and confronting it can be to turn up at court and partake in the justice process as a whole, especially when you have complex communication needs, and that is why we have set up this program. By providing experienced communication specialists, the intermediary program helps vulnerable people communicate effectively with police and the courts. The communication specialists have expertise in a range of fields, such as psychology, social work and even speech pathology, so they can assist victims and witnesses who have a diverse range of needs. Most importantly, they provide a service that is trauma-informed and sensitive to the victim experience.

May 2024 marks three years since the program was formally embedded into our justice system after the completion of a successful pilot. Since it began the program has received over 3000 requests for assistance from victims and witnesses. More recently the program moved to its new premises, co-located with the child and youth witness service established by this government. The new premises are designed so that witnesses and victims can feel safe, to minimise the trauma they may experience through the court process and support them to provide a better quality of evidence.

As I informed the house last year, I was pleased to launch Garragarrak as the new home for the intermediary service and the child and youth witness service. Garragarrak means ‘dragonfly’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people, an important symbol of transformation, change and adaptability. This program is just one of many that our government’s transformational reforms have made to better support victims in our state, because our government knows that by listening to, supporting and empowering victims we will see better outcomes.