Dr WOODRUFF – The Greens will be supporting this bill. We are very pleased to see that this recommendation of the commission of inquiry has been adopted, because I remember thinking at the time when we passed some amendments to the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001 that it seemed like the sort of humanising and sensible change that was needed to support people who have experienced trauma so that they can give the best evidence that is needed to get fair justice. For a person to be able to recall events and have the courage to speak about violence and abuse that has happened to them, they need to be in a really well‑supported space, otherwise their brain does not think properly.
There is that actual aspect of it as well, along with the extra trauma that it gives them. Tiffany Skeggs, who was a victim‑survivor of child sexual abuse, spoke in the commission of inquiry about the need to recount events multiple times when she spoke to police and lawyers and other people, and how exhausting and traumatic that was. The element of exhaustion and trauma is obviously a key driver here, but then there is the other factor, which is that when people are traumatised, their mind is not able to think clearly and they are not able to recall information as well as when they are relaxed and calm. If we want to have justice for all parties, then we need to have people in the best state to be able to provide evidence to a trial.
For those reasons, it is very sensible. Things that will now be available for adult victim‑survivors of child sexual abuse will also be available – will mean that they will have use of ways to provide some distance between them and other people in the court by the use of screens or one‑way glass so that they are not able to be confronted or be seen by the defendant. That is incredibly important for people who may never have actually been face-to-face with the person who abused them other than when they were being abused. That situation would be, as many victim‑survivors have said, incredibly confronting, and is something that stands in the way of people wanting to give evidence and go to trial in the first place.
The idea of having to be seen and eyeballed by that person who did those horrifying things is too much for some people, and as a consequence, they have never had access to justice. That is a very important thing. Also, the point that the DPP made to the commissioners of the inquiry was that pre-recording the entire evidence of children and other special witnesses, or now adults, as this bill will enable adults, if it is the case as has been for children, it will increase the likelihood that judges will intervene and control questioning. I can understand on the face of it what that might mean, but I do not know whether the minister has any extra information about how that operates in the courtroom.
I presume what that is saying is to protect the witness from being unreasonably or inappropriately questioned, perhaps by the defence, in a way that would be intimidating and inappropriate. I do not know if you have any information about that, but that is a positive outcome that the DPP referred to in relation to children so I assume that the same thing might occur for adult victim-survivors as well when they are giving evidence, which would be a good thing.
We support having the evidence given at a special hearing before the trial and a person being shielded or screened from the defendant, and the final part of this important part is to have a support person present when they give evidence in court. All those things are important. Could the minister make some comments about support people in the court and whether there is any resourcing available for adult victim-survivors who are bringing a case against a perpetrator, whether that is a sort of legal support, social kind of therapeutic support or personal friendship support. I do not understand which of those three it is. If it is access to legal or therapeutic support, is that something that a person can ask for resourcing to have with them in the court at the time or do they just have to rely on having their own finances to be able to afford that support?
To sum up, the Greens are pleased to see this part of the commission of inquiry recommendations being enacted and we wholeheartedly support the bill.
