The Justice Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences and Other Matters) Bill 2022 (Vic)

Liberty Victoria supports some aspects of the Bill. However, in our view many other aspects of the Bill are unnecessary and add complexity to an already difficult area of the law. As we said in our submission to the VLRC, the focus of the Government should be on introducing a restorative justice model for appropriate sexual offence cases:

A restorative justice model has the potential to have a long-lasting and wide-reaching impact on criminal justice in Victoria, and improving outcomes for victim-survivors. However, we would again submit that a cautious approach needs to be taken to ensure that the appropriate referral and assessment framework coupled with therapeutic treatment programs and appropriate legislative frameworks are implemented.