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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-03 Daily Xml
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O’GRADY, MS K.L.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. A. Bressington:

That, in the context of the death of Kirbee Louise O’Grady, this council urges the Attorney-General to commission an inquiry into—

1. The propensity and risk of victims of sexual assault to commit suicide; and

2. How the risk of suicide could be reduced by changes to the following services—

(a) the investigation and case management of the matter by the police;

(b) the management of prosecutions by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP);

(c) the support and follow-up process of the ODPP pre and post-trial, including when matters do not go to trial; and

(d) the support from victims, women’s and general support services.

(Continued from 5 June 2013.)

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:38): I stand to give the government response to the Kirbee Louise O'Grady motion, and in doing so I would like to move an amendment. I have circulated the amendment and did not intend to read out the actual amendment, but I understand that Kirbee's parents are in the gallery, so I think for them to have an understanding of where the government is going I will actually read out the amendment. I move:

Leave out all words after 'this council' and insert the following words in lieu thereof—

1. Notes that the government's Suicide Prevention Strategy 2012-2016 was released in September 2012;

2. Urges the government, through the Suicide Prevention Strategy 2012-2016, to look at the risk of suicide for victims and alleged victims of sexual assault and ways to better support them during and after their contact with the criminal justice system;

3. Notes that the government released a disability justice plan discussion paper on 21 May 2013;

4. Notes that the disability justice plan discussion paper includes proposals to improve the way the criminal justice system interacts with vulnerable witnesses, including children such as Kirbee Louise O'Grady;

5. Notes that the reforms suggested in the disability justice plan discussion paper include:

(a) better training for police officers when interviewing vulnerable witnesses and, in particular, when interviewing vulnerable witnesses who are alleged victims of sexual assaults;

(b) amendments to the Evidence Act 1929 to minimise the number of times vulnerable witnesses are asked to recount their experiences and to allow for evidence to be taken in informal settings rather than in a court; and

(c) the use of support people or intermediaries during interviews and in court to assist vulnerable witnesses.

6. Urges the government to include training for all participants in the criminal justice system when interacting with vulnerable witnesses, including the courts and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in the government's disability justice plan.

7. Urges the government to include a review of the availability of support services for vulnerable witnesses in the government's disability justice plan.

The first part of the amended private member's motion of the Hon. Ann Bressington urges the Attorney-General to commission an inquiry into the propensity and risk of victims of sexual assault to commit suicide. The objects of such an inquiry are laudable. It is beyond doubt that victims of sexual assaults are generally in a higher risk category of engaging in suicidal behaviour. The government's Suicide Prevention Strategy 2012-16, released in September last year, recognises this fact.

The amended motion I have moved today asks that the council notes that the Suicide Prevention Strategy is the mechanism best placed to address the issues highlighted by the Hon. Ann Bressington in this place. Rather than asking the government to undertake an inquiry into what is already taken as a fact by this government, the council is instead asked to urge the government to ensure that the implementation of the Suicide Prevention Strategy includes a focus on how alleged victims of sexual assaults can be better supported throughout their contact with the criminal justice system.

The second part of the Hon. Ann Bressington's motion concerns the way the criminal justice system interacts with alleged victims of sexual assaults. The motion points to three areas in need of review, namely, the investigation and case management of allegations of sexual assaults, the prosecution of matters involving alleged sexual assaults, and the availability of support services for alleged victims and their families throughout these stages.

Alleged victims of sexual assaults are defined as 'vulnerable witnesses' under our laws, as are children. Kirbee was, in every sense of the term, a vulnerable witness. Improvement of the way the criminal justice system interacts with vulnerable witnesses is a priority for this government. The government recently released a discussion paper that proposes a number of changes to this system. The discussion paper is the first step towards developing the government's disability justice plan.

I know many people in this council are very interested in this plan and have participated in the consultation process for the discussion paper. What those members will know is that the discussion paper recommends changes to the system that will benefit all vulnerable witnesses, not just those with a disability.

These changes include: better training for police officers when interviewing vulnerable witnesses, and in particular when interviewing vulnerable witnesses who are alleged victims of sexual assault; amendments to the Evidence Act 1929 to minimise the number of times vulnerable witnesses are asked to recount their experiences and to allow for evidence to be taken in informal settings rather than in a court; and the use of support people or intermediaries during interviews and in court to assist vulnerable witnesses.

These changes are all changes that, when implemented, will provide a better criminal justice system for people with disabilities and for all other vulnerable witnesses such as Kirbee. The discussion paper does not explicitly refer to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, nor does it explicitly refer to the need for a review of the availability of support services for vulnerable witnesses.

Accordingly, I have moved that the motion be amended to urge the government to include in the disability justice plan a commitment to training all participants in the criminal justice system, including the courts and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, about their interactions with vulnerable witnesses. The amended motion also urges the government to include a review of the availability of support services for vulnerable witnesses in the government's disability justice plan.

The government commends the Hon. Ann Bressington for focusing on improving the system as a whole; however, the government wants to ensure that this improvement occurs by way of the processes that are already in place so that the change that is needed can happen in a timely manner and the focus that is already on the criminal justice system and vulnerable witnesses is not redirected. I urge the council to support the amendment.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (16:45): First of all, I will speak to the amendment put forward on behalf of the government by the Hon. Russell Wortley. I guess it will come as no surprise to the government that I do not support this amendment to the motion. I met with a person from the minister's office earlier today and explained that what the government has proposed is pretty much what you would call the recommendations of an inquiry if it was ever to happen, so it is a bit like the cart pulling the horse really.

I think the government has chosen not to hear the problems around Kirbee's case, and probably many others as well I would say from people I have spoken to, so they have either chosen not to listen or they are deaf—one or the other. The fact of the matter is that as the Hon. Russell Wortley said, the motion that the government has put up has not dealt with the management of prosecutions by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions nor has it looked at the follow-up and support process of the department of public prosecutions pre and post trial. I guess in the general scheme of things, they are the two most important aspects of this motion to the family as well as the dealing of this kind of matter by the police as well.

It is all very wonderful that the government has taken this opportunity to use this motion to point out all the wonderful things that they have already done. The fact of the matter is that with all of these things in place, if this was in place before Kirbee's death, I have no doubt that Kirbee still would have taken the action that she took because none of this relates to the near 11 years she dealt with on a psychological and emotional level. First of all, there is the fact that she was sexually abused by a family member and, secondly, that it has been intimated to me that that family member had connections with the police. Thirdly, when it did get to a point where she thought that this was going to move forward so that she and her cousin could have their day in court, suddenly the rug was ripped out from underneath them.

Whether or not Kirbee was fit to stand trial emotionally or psychologically, as I said last time I spoke to the other motion on this matter, Kirbee's cousin was more than willing to proceed with this and yet files were lost, files were distributed between the Elizabeth Magistrates Court and Port Augusta, I think it was, all over the countryside basically, and that was one of the reasons the family was given that this case could not proceed, because they could not find the files. So this has nothing to do with what the government has proposed about a suicide prevention strategy. There is no mention in here really of processes that are abused or neglected and whether or not, when that occurs, what should happen. What disciplinary action should be taken against this obvious negligence by the investigating officers or the interviewing officers or the DPP and their absolute lack of compassion for both Kirbee and her family while trying to do the best thing possible to try to reconcile what had happened to this young girl and her cousin at a very, very young age?

Kirbee found the courage to talk about what had happened when she was eight. I do not believe that an eight year old would ever imagine that they would have 11 years of trauma ahead of them and then get to the age of 17 and be further traumatised by the system that she had supposedly trusted to do the right thing by her and her cousin.

This whole matter has been a disgrace from the beginning to the end, and that is why my motion calls for how the risk of suicide could be reduced by changes to the following services: (a) the investigation and case management of the matter by the police; and (b) the management of prosecutions by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. These are two very specific points in the motion that I have put forward, and they are there for a reason: because I have no doubt in my mind that Kirbee's case and that of her cousin are not isolated incidents.

We have a huge gap in how we deal with sexual offenders in this state. It is almost like some are a protected species, and I think we have to move past that. We need to look at the fact that, from a government point of view, we do not want it out there how prevalent this is; we do not really want to scratch below the surface of this problem that exists because it is not going to look politically grand. It is going to look quite dirty, I believe. At the end of the day, while we still hold that attitude, many, many more children will suffer. I think it is really time now for the parliament to step up and for each and every one of us, as members of parliament, elected representatives of the people, to now step up and start changing the culture of secrecy that we have and not condone sloppy work by the people who are paid to protect and serve the community.

On that note I reject wholeheartedly the amendment of the government. I might also add that I met with one of the people from the Attorney-General's office the week before last. We sat down and had a discussion about what the government amendment might look like, and I can assure each and every member in this council that it was nothing like what has been laid on our tables today. It is absolutely nothing like what we discussed. Quite frankly, I am sick of this motion being treated like a political football with everybody trying to cover everybody's backside, and being safe in how we execute this. It is now time to get on with it and vote in a way that is going to show this family sitting up in the gallery that 11 or 12 years of pain and suffering is being acknowledged by the people sitting in this room. I commend my motion to the council.

Amendment negatived; motion carried.

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