Specialist sex assault courts ignored despite overwhelming support

Fifteen years ago the state government was told to set up specialist sexual assault courts in NSW, so why haven’t they been introduced?

Successive state governments have spent 15 years ignoring expert recommendations that NSW establish specialist sexual assault courts to reduce victim trauma.

The Criminal Justice Sexual Offences Task Force highlighted this as far back in 2006 but today legal experts are still calling for the same reform.

“I suppose whatever report came from this task force, it was dealt with in the way most other reports are dealt with,” former Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery, who was a member of the task force, said.

“That is, put on a shelf somewhere and ignored forever.

“There may have been one or two recommendations cherrypicked from it and the government thought: If we do that, we show we are responding to it and we are doing something about it’.”

A pilot program of specialist sexual assault courts is one of three outcomes The Saturday and Sunday Telegraphs are calling for in a campaign focused on sexual violence reforms.

A Matter Of Consent is pushing for the government to act on the expert evidence and recommendations that have been on the table for years.

Former Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery was on a sexual assault task force in 2006. Pic: James Croucher

Specific sexual assault courts were floated in 2006, after the then Labor government set up a task force to explore how survivors are treated in the justice system.

The group was made up of the most respected legal figures in the state, including current Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb, three judges, a magistrate and experts on consent and violence against women.

Among its 70 recommendations was that NSW set up specialist sexual assault courts with hand-picked judges and prosecutors, case management to reduce delays and support services to help those involved avoid burnout.

Mr Cowdery, who was the DPP between 1994 and 2011, said a specialist prosecution unit would mean employing more prosecutors and “more money, which the government is always reluctant to provide”.

Asked why stakeholders were still pushing for specialist sexual assault courts years on, Mr Cowdery put it down to “political reluctance and lack of priority”.

Current DPP Lloyd Babb chaired the task force that recommended specialist sexual assault courts. Pic: David Moir

“Our history in this country and probably elsewhere is the politicians think the problems have been solved by having an inquiry and recommendations made and they don’t need to do anything more about it,” he said.

“It‘s the motivation to actually take action and spend public funds on measures that would no doubt improve the situation.”

Specialist sexual assault prosecutor units exist in the ACT and Victoria.

A spokeswoman for Mr Babb, who told the Royal Commission into institutionalised child sex abuse in 2014 that the DPP didn’t have the resources for a specialist unit, said all prosecutors were trained in sex assault prosecution.

“Continuing legal education is compulsory for all ODPP lawyers and is provided in-house,” she said.

“Specialist training on sexual violence matters is always a most important part of the ODPP yearly continuing legal education program.”

Attorney-General Mark Speakman said “many of the changes proposed” included in the 2006 taskforce’s recommendations around specialist sexual assault courts had been implemented.

That included sexual assault education and resources for judges, allowing victims to give evidence remotely and a District Court practice note to prioritise sexual assault matters.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman is considering how to reform sexual assault consent laws. Pic: Adam Yip

However, the idea of specialist sexual assault courts was pushed again when the Law Reform Commission started a review of consent laws in 2018.

Many organisations complained that the scope of the review was too narrow and wouldn’t consider important reforms like specialist courts.

“The Government continues to consider the Law Reform Commission’s report, which recommends research into experiences of complainants of sexual offences in the NSW criminal justice system,” Mr Speakman said.

“Should the recommendation be accepted, the government would consider any proposed measure to help reduce the risk of retraumatising and revictimising complainants during criminal processes.”

Women’s Safety NSW chief executive officer Hayley Foster said there was already research about the experiences of victims in court.

“We don‘t need to open Pandora’s box and retraumatise a whole heap of people,” she said.

“It‘s dismissing all the experiences of everyone else who has shared their stories.

Women's Safety NSW chief executive officer Hayley Foster said the time for reviews was over. Pic: Supplied.

“There are so many women and men who have already shared their stories of going through the courts.

“The numbers speak for themselves — so many people don’t report, so many people withdraw their charges.”

Ms Foster said specialist courts would involve hand-picked judges who are specifically trained in sexual violence and how it impacts victims, including how they present in court, delays in coming forward and patterns of behaviour in offenders.

“Anybody who goes through the court process knows it really matters which judicial officer you have your matter heard before,” she said.

Delia Donovan of Domestic Violence NSW, which has advocated for specialist sexual assault courts, said the time for another survey was over.

“It’s a case of picking all of the inquiries and reviews off the shelf and reading them. It’s about listening to the solutions and meaningfully engaging with victim-survivors,” she said.

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