Convicted rapists will no longer be able to hide their identity through suppression order laws designed to protect victims if Labor is re-elected in November, with interim orders and other elements also under review.
Premier Ben Carroll and Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny announced the policy alongside a commitment to introduce legislation on Tuesday aimed at protecting victims of abuse, including bans on character references and a new standalone offence for coercive control.
Speaking before the start of the parliamentary sitting week, Carroll said Labor would amend the Open Courts Act to limit the use of suppression orders in the next term of parliament after the November election.
A key feature of this change will be a requirement that convicted rapists can’t use legal manoeuvres designed to help victims to secure suppression orders that hide their identity.
The government is also reviewing the use of interim suppression orders and examining the justification for their broader use in criminal trials.
The Age revealed in June that Kilkenny had tasked the Department of Justice and Community Safety with this review work and to consult the courts, lawyers and the media.
The use of mental health grounds to secure suppression orders has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly after being used in the 2025 rape trial of Tom Silvagni, a member of a famous footballing family.
Silvagni’s name was suppressed during criminal proceedings after a judge accepted publicity about his case would risk negatively affecting his mental health.
Major media groups, including The Age, campaigned in March alongside victims of crime to change current legislation to make it harder to obtain suppression orders on mental health grounds.
Kilkenny said laws limiting the use of suppression orders would be introduced next term and the review would aim to close any loopholes being exploited.
“Justice must be open, and there must be a balance with the right to a fair trial,” she said.
“But we have seen most recently that we need to look at this. We need to listen.”
The Carroll government will also introduce a bill to parliament today with a range of protections for victims of abuse.
It will include the introduction of coercive control as a standalone criminal offence, delivering on a commitment from 2025, and the removal of “good character” references which can be used to argue for lighter sentences.
Harrison James, a survivor of child sexual abuse and co-founder of the “Your Reference Ain’t Relevant” advocacy group, said character references had already been abolished in the ACT and New South Wales.
“Good character is the very tool perpetrators use to ingratiate themselves into the lives of their victims, their families and their communities,” he said.
“When we allow them to use that to reduce their sentence, we risk giving an offender a discount for the very thing that helped facilitate the crime.”
The standalone offence of coercive control will take effect in March 2028 to provide time for an advisory group to consult on how it will be implemented.
Katie Alexander, a member of the state’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council, said the area was so complex that a one-size-fits-all approach would not work.
She said coercive control devastated her life and destroyed her family.
“It messed with my mind. It broke my body and it shattered my relationships,” Alexander said.
“Repeated acts of abuse over many years have deep psychological, emotional, social and financial scars.”
Other protections to be introduced included amendments to family violence intervention orders that reduce the need for victims to return to court for extensions and requiring courts to consider their views when making decisions on these extensions.
Personal safety intervention orders will also recognise grooming for the first time and see fine exemptions extended to stop fees and charges being weaponised against victims of abuse.
Get alerts on breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
From our partners
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.