Brittany Higgins has joined more than 26 advocacy organisations in calling for reform to allow sexual assault complainants to pre-record their testimony in New South Wales.
In an open letter, legal academics and advocates have warned that existing court rules cause unnecessary harm and distress to complainants. It says the NSW government should follow in the footsteps of the Victorian government, which committed to updating its laws to allow pre-recorded testimony in May.
“No reform can erase what happened to a victim-survivor, but we can stop our legal system from making the experience harder than it needs to be,” Higgins said on Wednesday.
“Giving survivors the option to pre-record their evidence is a practical, compassionate reform that centres the wellbeing of vulnerable Australians while allowing them to fully engage in the pursuit of justice.”
The open letter has been endorsed by several prominent organisations including Fair Agenda, Full Stop Australia, Women’s Legal Service NSW, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, With You We Can, No to Violence, plus others.
“Justice shouldn’t require survivors to put their lives on hold. We know our courts are backlogged and it can take years for a reported sexual assault to make it to court,” Higgins said.
“The option to pre-record evidence recognises that every day spent waiting for trial is another day carrying the emotional weight of what happened to you, knowing you’ll soon have to relive every excruciating detail.”
The call for reform comes ahead of a parliamentary briefing at NSW parliament next week, which will be led by survivors, experts and frontline services.
Professor Julia Quilter from the University of Wollongong said giving evidence in a sexual offence trial is especially traumatic because it requires the victim-survivor to relive the events, share details of intimate matters and be cross-examined about their ‘credibility’ as a witness.
“Pre-recording the whole of the victim-survivor’s evidence in advance of the trial offers important benefits,” Professor Quilter said.
“It alleviates the stress associated with waiting for the trial to take place. Pre-recording in a controlled environment, without the jury present, also facilitates the giving of best evidence.”
Allowing sexual assault victim-survivors to pre-record their testimony is a recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission.
Chair of the RANZCP Family Violence Psychiatry Network, Dr Karen Williams, said psychiatrists regularly see the profound and lasting mental health impacts of sexual assault, domestic violence and family violence
“The mental health impacts of sexual violence can be severe and long-lasting, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, problematic substance use and suicidality,” Dr Williams said.
“For some victim-survivors, the court process itself can become another source of distress. Our justice system must be designed to support recovery and access to justice, not risk compounding harm.”
RANZCP welcomed the NSW Government’s recent $184.1 million investment in frontline specialist domestic and family violence services.
The NSW governemnt recently announced a landmark inquiry to determine how to better protect the sexual assault counselling records of victim-survivors.
“Protecting counselling records is important, but it is only one piece of the puzzle,” Dr Williams said.
“We need a court system that understands trauma, reduces the risk of re-traumatisation and supports victimsurvivors at every stage of the process.”