2015-10-22
The establishment of the victims of crime commissioner and the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee under this bill puts in statute the roles of the consultative committee, which has been around for some three years now, and the victims of crime commissioner, who has been in place for around 12 months. The commissioner is Mr Greg Davies, who was previously the secretary of Police Association Victoria. I have had conversations with Mr Davies over the years in my role as Greens spokesperson for police, and I congratulate him on taking up the position. These two roles are put in place to ensure that victims have a voice in the criminal justice system and that the knowledge gained from their experiences is used to further improve the experience for victims of crime in the justice system. A great example of this is Rosie Batty, who brings much wisdom as well as compassion and is motivated by a desire to serve and protect the community and ensure that what happened to her and her family does not happen to other people.
Victims of crime need to be treated with sensitivity, be listened to, receive full explanations of the processes in the criminal justice system and be given timely updates as to what is happening so as not to exacerbate any anxiety and trauma associated with not only the crime committed against them but their experience in the justice system. Research shows that victims have a wish above and beyond punishment and compensation — that is, for respect and appreciation. If victims of crime are left voiceless and are re-traumatised by the criminal justice system, they will not have faith in it. That can also lead to an under-reporting of crime.
The Greens will be supporting this legislation, but we do have queries with regard to the victims of crime commissioner in that the commissioner has different powers and may not have sufficient powers or specific legislative guidance under this bill to be as effective as he or she can be. In New South Wales and South Australia the commissioners have specific powers to deal with individual complaints from victims of crime and to use their best endeavours to resolve those complaints. They can also request that agencies make written apologies to victims where there are breaches of the rights of victims under the victims charter. We have been querying the department about the commissioner's powers. In the other states there are specific legislative powers to publish codes, guidelines and other practical guidance; to conduct, promote and monitor training and public awareness activities; and to provide research on victims of crime.
This bill creates the independent victims of crime commissioner, and the second-reading speech says the commissioner's focus will be:
… on the recognition of victims of crime in the justice system, to represent the interests of victims of crime to government —
and I understand that to be victims of crime collectively, not victims of crime individually —
and to promote the inclusion and participation of victims of crime in the justice system.
The bill also formally recognises the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee, which has existed since 2013 and is chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice the Honourable Bernard Teague, who was recently appointed following the resignation of former Supreme Court Justice the Honourable Philip Cummins. The victims of crime commissioner will be a five-year fixed-term appointment, and there is the possibility of a reappointment but for no longer than another five years.
In the second-reading speech the minister continued:
The commissioner will of course receive complaints from individual victims of crime. These individual complaints will assist the commissioner to identify the issues that are affecting victims of crime, and to target his —
or her —
inquiries at the right issues. Where possible the commissioner will provide advice and information to individual victims of crime.
However while the commissioner is able to advocate on behalf of victims of crime, our intention is that commissioners will not involve themselves with individual cases, or become involved in particular prosecutions.
In South Australia the commissioner can assist victims in their dealings with prosecution authorities and other government agencies; monitor and review the effect of the law and court practices and procedures on victims; and more specifically a public agency or official must, if requested to do so by the commissioner, consult him or her regarding steps to further the interests of victims in general or a particular victim or class of victims. The South Australian commissioner also has the power to recommend that an agency or office give a written apology to the victim and provide a copy of that notice of recommendation to the victim. The South Australian commissioner must also in his or her report specify the number of notices given by the commissioner and the public agencies or officials to whom notices were given during the year the report relates to.
In New South Wales the commissioner also promotes and oversees the implementation of the victims charter, including publishing codes, guidelines and other practical guidance on the implementation of the charter; makes recommendations to assist agencies to improve their compliance with the charter of victims rights; receives complaints from victims of crime and family members about alleged breaches of the charter; tries to resolve complaints; and makes recommendations to agencies to apologise to victims for breaches.
Mr Dalidakis — On a point of order, Acting President, I believe the member is reading from a preprepared speech.
The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Morris) — Order! I have been observing Ms Pennicuik as she has been making her contribution. I believe she is referring to notes, but I do not believe she is reading a preprepared speech, so I do not uphold the point of order.
Ms PENNICUIK — Yes, I was reading some excerpts about the particular powers of the New South Wales and South Australian commissioners, which I had not committed to memory, but I am not reading a speech. I am happy to give the notes to the minister if he wants to look at them later so that he can work that out for himself.
As I was saying, the functions and powers of the commissioner in Victoria are broad and include advocating for the recognition, inclusion and participation of and respect for victims of crime by government departments and bodies responsible for conducting public prosecutions and carrying out inquiries on systemic victims of crime matters. These are good things, but they are very broad.
In terms of the function held by the commissioners in New South Wales and South Australia, dealing with individual cases and classes of cases would inform the commissioner in identifying systemic issues and carrying out inquiries into them. In fact it was the President who said in this place only this Tuesday that looking at individual cases informs consideration of issues of a systemic nature.
I just raise as a query the differences between the Victorian regime and the regimes in place in South Australia and New South Wales, which are already tried and tested. In Victoria the commissioner can report to and advise the Attorney-General, but the powers as outlined in this bill are much broader and less specific than they are in the other two jurisdictions I have mentioned which also have commissioners in place.
Clause 32 outlines the functions of the committee, including: to provide a forum for victims of crime, justice agencies and victim of crime services to discuss improvements to policies, practices and service delivery; to provide advice to the Attorney-General regarding policies and practices and to promote the interests of victims of crime in the administration of the justice system; and to provide advice on the matter referred to the committee by the Attorney-General.
Clause 38 outlines the membership of the committee, including the chairperson and the commissioner, the judicial members of the committee, a legal practitioner of the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP), an officer of the Adult Parole Board of Victoria, a police officer nominated by the Chief Commissioner of Police and other members, which includes up to seven persons who are victims of crime, a member representing a victims of crime services organisation and one or more persons as additional members. It is good to see that it is quite a substantial consultative committee, which is good to see, as it will be able to provide advice as required for the important functions that it will be carrying out.
The Greens wrote to the minister's advisers about some of the issues on which we had queries, including the commissioner's ability to act on behalf of individual victims and to recommend a written apology if an agency has done the wrong thing, which is possible in South Australia and New South Wales, and also with regard to publishing guidelines and other things that are specifically mentioned in the legislation but not in the Victorian legislation.
I thank the minister's advisers and the department for the responses they have sent. Regarding the written apology, we were provided with the following advice:
If the commissioner considers that recommending a written apology is the appropriate response to a case, then this specific function will allow him to do this. It is not a formal process available under the act, but there is nothing in the act that would prevent him —
or her —
from taking this course, or from making suggestions to other departments, agencies and bodies as to how they should approach a particular matter involving a victim's interests.
I would be happy to hear from the minister about whether that really is the case. We also asked about acting on behalf of individual victims, and one of the pieces of advice was:
The Victorian commissioner's powers would be complementary to those of the Ombudsman, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chief Commissioner of Police, as well as other bodies, like IBAC. Parliament intends that the commission in carrying out an inquiry should liaise with other investigative authorities, official bodies and statutory officers to … facilitate the coordination and expedition of inquiries that are to be separately conducted by different authorities, bodies or officers.
We were also advised that:
We do not want individual court cases to be delayed or extended by adding another party to that case. Our intention is that the commissioner will concentrate his resources on work that can benefit all victims by addressing systemic failures in the criminal justice system.
I thank the department and the minister for getting back to me on those issues, but I am still left with a question regarding the difference between victims being able to be represented or being assisted more closely by the commissioner — who is the commissioner for victims of crime — and their having to go back to the OPP, to the Ombudsman or to another officer of the Parliament, another statutory officer, when one would think this officer has been set up to do that job. I remain concerned about the answer that other officers or agencies will be picking up that job, when it seems to me that the commissioner has the right role to be doing that job. As I said, if the victims of crime commissioner were involved in those cases, as they can be in the other jurisdictions, it would inform their role in terms of looking at systemic issues.
Those are the main queries the Greens have about the establishment of the victims of crime commissioner in Victoria. I end by saying that a lot still needs to be done in educating the judiciary and even the medical profession, which could do with some education about how to deal with victims of crime from a health perspective. People who work in the community legal system feed back to us that victims of crime can find dealing with the health professions and the judicial system very traumatic. Through the whole system that deals with people who have been through these traumatic experiences, we can still do better.
I finish by saying that the government could monitor whether the provisions it has put in place are working over the years. Perhaps it could look at the models that exist in other states to see whether, as we experience the ongoing roles of the commissioner and the consultative committee, more specific powers need to be added.