Victim advocacy group to meet with ministers for response to recommendations

The Police Commissioner and a number of government ministers will finally meet with victims of crime, more than 10 days after they rallied outside parliament.

A victims of crime advocacy group will meet with a number of ministers, more than 10 days after they protested outside of parliament demanding several recommendations.

The Voice for Victims put forward a number of recommendations at a meeting after the protest on August 23 but the non-negotiable was creating an independent committee to help get immediate solutions.

The group gave the government 10 business days to give them an answer after the recommendations were put forward.

Voice for Victims march on Parliament House. Picture: Liam Kidston

On Wednesday it is expected they will meet again with Police Minister Mark Ryan, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath and Youth Crime Minister Di Farmer.

Voice for Victims organiser Ben Cannon said the other recommendations could be talked through but the independent committee needed to be approved on Wednesday.

“The thing we don’t see any way past is we need an independent committee to allow all the stakeholders, all the parties who have interest in this to be heard and for the issues to be thrashed out so we can build some immediate solutions and also some longer term ones,” he said.

“I think what we are finding even with the appointment of the victims commissioner, it’s a great step forward but it may also be the decisions being made on the run without all the information.

“We believe, without an independent committee – the Queensland police, the magistrates, the victims, the Indigenous communities – we really think there’s too many parties in this that have yet to have their say.”

Voice for Victims march on Parliament House, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Cannon said if they couldn’t see value in the committee the only option was a royal commission.

“Because this is a social issue, this isn’t something that has popped up in the last 12 months, this has been building for decades,” he said.

Among the other recommendations were to ban the sale of knives to those under 18 and removing detention as a last resort.

Mr Cannon said it was encouraging the government were meeting with them in the time they set. He said Ms Carroll and Mr Ryan had already indicated on the phone they would present a framework for the committee to the group on Wednesday.

“We’ve said we don’t want the meeting for the sake of the meeting, we want the meeting because there’s going to be meaningful discussions and some outcomes,” he said.

“They’ve given us the undertaking that they understand that and they’re going to be able to show us the framework.

Voice for Victims march on Parliament House, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

”We don’t expect Wednesday to be the final meeting on this, it’s certainly a step forward if we can get a yes and then we can start to build that committee pretty quickly.”

Since the protest the last 10 days had taken a toll on the group.

“It has been absolutely exhausting. it is a space that none of us live in, we all have jobs outside of it,” he said.

“We’ve got the emotional trauma of being a victim and the last 10 days public trauma of being under the spotlight.”

A government spokesman said the response will be provided by September 6.

“The Palaszczuk Government is grateful for the time and effort of the Voice for Victims group, and appreciates the thought that has gone into their proposals,” they said.

“The government is genuinely considering those proposals and notes the timeline provided by the group for a response.”