Let Her Speak: Sex victims law reform is ‘a high priority’, says Attorney-General

The Attorney-General says changes to laws that currently gag sexual assault victims from telling their stories are coming soon, as Labor accused the Government of running out of things to do.

Attorney-General Elise Archer. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

CAREFUL consideration of changes to laws allowing sexual assault victims to tell their stories was a top priority, Attorney-General Elise Archer said on Thursday.

Her comments came as Labor accused the State Government of running out of legislation for Parliament to consider.

The #letherspeak campaign by abuse survivor Grace Tame has pushed for changes to Tasmanian law, which prevents victims from telling their stories in public.

GRACE TAME’S STORY OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND SURVIVAL

HOW GRACE TAME SECURED THE RIGHT TO SHARE HER STORY

Ms Archer said the Government had listened to victims and was making sure that any reforms it made did not have unintended consequences.

“I am placing that as a priority matter,’’ she said.

“It seems I have a lot of priority matters in the area of law reform.

“But it is a high priority matter for me because I know there is a strong public interest and, indeed, a strong interest from victims and survivors.

“So it is a very important issue, and I hope to be able to provide some clarity this year so that we can release a draft bill for consultation.

“I expect that I will be able to conclude something this year.

“We have a very strong full law reform agenda for this year.”

Opposition Leader Rebecca White. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

But Opposition Leader Rebecca White said the Government was running out of legislation for Parliament to consider.

The Government had 40 bills passed in 2017, and 29 last year. In the year to date only 13 have been passed.

“The Government seems to have run out of business,” Ms White said.

“We had a situation in the last sitting week where there were no bills tabled and this week it’s basically just housekeeping issues.

“This is a Government that’s in its second year since it was elected and it should — you would expect — have a very clear strategy for what it wants to do to improve Tasmania.

“They’ve simply dropped the ball at a time when we could be making great strides to improve Tasmania and make it a better and fairer place. But unfortunately the agenda for the rest of the year looks like a bit of a blank canvas.

“And that’s incredibly worrying, given some of the startling problems we have facing us — like the highest unemployment rate in the country, a growing elective surgery waiting list and a growing number of people waiting for housing.”