Stalking law reform
Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:19): (553) My question is to the Attorney-General. In June 2022 the Victorian Law Reform Commission handed its final report on stalking to the Labor government. This report contained 45 recommendations to improve safety, especially for women, who sadly, are far more likely to be victims of stalking behaviour. On Friday at PAEC the Attorney-General stated that the government will not formally respond to these 45 recommendations. Given the Labor government’s claim about tackling gendered violence against women, why is the government refusing to formally respond to the law reform commission’s recommendations into tackling stalking?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:20): I thank Dr Heath for her question and her interest in this area. My response in PAEC was that the question implied that there was going to be a formal, written, verse-by-chapter response to the VLRC report. What I was at pains to explain is that unlike parliamentary inquiry reports, VLRC reports do not have a requirement to provide a formal written response back. What I am more interested in is drawing on the work of the VLRC to inform policy changes and produce real outcomes. Actions are much better than spending time writing down responses. I would prefer to feed them into the current work that we are doing.
We are continuing our work in relation to women’s safety. I was honoured to stand with the Premier today, the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, the Minister for Women and the new Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behaviour Change, accompanied by a victim-survivor, talking about all of the initiatives that are in the package announced today. Coming back to your question about stalking, I did reaffirm the government’s commitment to a broader piece of legislation on women’s safety to be brought into the Parliament next week. We will be amending section 21A of the Crimes Act. That is the crime of stalking. The report showed that the crime of stalking in Victoria is actually very well developed. It covers a range of behaviours that are not covered in other jurisdictions. For example, in other jurisdictions you have to prove that you knew someone was stalking. We do not have those types of barriers here. We have good laws, but we want to make them even better. We have identified some gaps in the ability for them to be as clear as they could be. ‘Course of conduct’ is something that we need to better define, and that is part of picking up the recommendations in relation to the stalking report.
I have got a copy of the recommendations here, Dr Heath, and I am happy to talk to you offline about it, but a lot of this is built into the work that we are doing. It talks about reviews, looking at cyberstalking, identifying gaps, are there shortages in data? A lot of these recommendations are about how we look at the system to improve it. It is not as though there is a series of ‘will you’ or ‘won’t you’ types of recommendations in here. As I said, I am more than happy to take you through here and show you where a lot of this work is building into the broader women’s safety package.
Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:23): I thank the Attorney for her response. Celeste Manno’s mother Aggie Di Mauro has campaigned for stronger stalking laws in the light of the horrific death of her daughter at the hands of a stalker. Celeste’s murder was the trigger for the VLRC’s report on stalking. As the final report noted of Aggie:
Her relentless pursuit of justice has been an inspiration. She often said that nothing would bring Celeste back, but this report will be a fitting legacy of her lovely daughter.
How is refusing to formally respond to these 45 recommendations in any way respectful to Aggie Di Mauro or the memory of Celeste Manno?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:23): Dr Heath, what happened to Celeste Manno is a tragedy. I have spent a lot of time with that family and I cannot imagine how hard it is for them, but they have certainly outlined it in their words to me on a number of occasions. Yes, that tragic case has indeed sparked a lot of the reviews and the consideration. Importantly, one of the recommendations to come out of the VLRC’s work is the stalking and harassment tool that the police use, which is about identifying high-risk perpetrators when victims come into the police station. That is very much the experience of Celeste and her mother – coming into the police station, telling the story and wanting to get the help that they deserved, and the police having the ability to make sure that they can accurately identify those high-risk perpetrators. That tool is currently under trial with VicPol in two locations, and it is something I am talking to them about, the broader application – (Time expired)