Victims of Crime

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:28): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney inform the council about all the work that this government has undertaken over the past year to further support victims of crime in South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for her very well thought-out and very well written and very well asked question. While this government has a longstanding history when in power of supporting victims of crime, the past calendar year has been a particularly positive one for South Australian victims of crime being further supported, and to honour the importance of that I am happy to share some of the key actions that have been taken in this space.

Earlier this year, the government reinstated critical funding to the Victim Support Service that was cut under the former Liberal government, and we provided additional funding to the Victim Support Service's Court Companions Program. The Court Companions Program offers trained volunteers to accompany victims of crime during their time in court, which can often be a stressful and overwhelming time. This program, to help victims of crime navigate the criminal justice system, received a $70,000 boost in funding to help bolster the service's volunteer workforce by up to 10 new volunteers, ensuring greater capacity to provide support to victims during their time of need, particularly during court trials.

It was also a fantastic moment for South Australia's victims of crime in July this year to appoint another dedicated victims' advocate to service as our Commissioner for Victims' Rights. Ms Sarah Quick took over from her predecessor Ms Bronwyn Killmier, who stepped down after five years of passionate advocacy in the role. Having previously been awarded the Victim Support Service's Victim Service Worker of the Year, Ms Quick has proven to be a fantastic advocate since starting in the role in August.

Further, this government has continued our strong support for the Homicide Victim Support Group of SA, a group largely made up of volunteers who provide support to people who have lost friends or loved ones to a homicide. A few months back, I opened the Homicide Victim Support Group of SA's information seminar for family and friends of homicide victims.

At that morning tea, I was proud to share that the Attorney-General's Department had been able to provide additional support and funding to the Homicide Victim Support Group for an additional staff member to provide support to that group in governance, communications, and management and events that support so many others. The support that the group provides includes the development and distribution of newsletters, organising monthly meetings, attending and taking minutes and organising guest speakers. I look forward to seeing the important work of this group continue in the future.

In further work supporting victims of crime, this government has recently commenced consultation on a suite of reforms to strengthen the process to give victims of crime a stronger voice in the criminal justice process, particularly in the sentencing process. The government began consulting on potential changes after concerns were raised by the former Commissioner for Victims' Rights and other victim advocates about victim impact statements.

The government is currently consulting on a bill with key stakeholders to ensure victims of crime are given the opportunity to be heard by courts prior to sentencing, making sure the victims are provided with information around how they can provide a statement, what it involves and how it will be used, and ensuring that the court accepts victim impact statements in the form in which the victim wishes to give it. This change clarifies the court's discretion to discard any material that it deems irrelevant to sentencing and allow victims to be heard in their own words, giving victims control over whether their statements can be made public, and giving the court the power to prevent the publication of material that it deems irrelevant.

I look forward to the conclusion of this consultation period, and considering the feedback, before we introduce legislation to ensure victims of crime have an even stronger voice in the sentencing process. Further still, the government has provided additional funding to the Victim Support Service for other programs that they run. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the volunteers in Mount Gambier last year.

Additional services to the Victim Support Service will see a boost to their volunteer workforce, as I said, by up to 10 new members, ensuring greater capacity during trials. All of these have been done over the past 12 months, and I look forward to sharing with the council the government's actions that further continue the role that we do to support victims.