#LetHerSpeak: State Government open to changing laws that gag sexual assault victims

A senior minister says the Government will consider changing the law to allow the victims of sexual crimes to tell their stories in public.

THE State Government is expected to make changes to laws that prevent sexual assault survivors from telling their stories in public, Liberal MP Michael Ferguson said on Monday.

Hobart woman Grace Tame has shared her story of being sexually abused by a teacher at St Michaels Collegiate nine years ago.

She was prevented from speaking out about the abuse until she obtained the permission of the Supreme Court — a process that took two years and cost $10,000.

Tasmania and the Northern Territory are the only Australian jurisdictions where such laws still exist.

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Mr Ferguson said the Government was open to change.

“The Government is specifically reviewing Section 194K of the Criminal Code,” he said.

“The whole point here is of course that Tasmania — like every other state and territory — does have appropriate mechanisms in place to protect the privacy and the identity of people who have been victimised by those monsters who would commit criminal sexual acts against children for example.”

Grace Tame, left, with journalist Nina Funnell, has won the right to release her name and speak about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a school teacher. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Mr Ferguson said the Government had already consulted widely on possible changes to the law.

“We would ask Tasmanians to be part of our consultation,” he said.

“We’ve already received more than 50 submissions from legal organisations, community organisations and the wider public. So we are reviewing it.

“We would expect to make changes there.

“While the Government doesn’t have any opposition to people wanting to be out to tell their story, we do need to understand that if one person tells their story it might actually lead to other victims being directly identified as well: think school friends, think siblings, brothers and sisters.

“So we have to take this very carefully and we will but we will be certainly looking to reform that provision in a careful way.”

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Opposition leader Rebecca White said she could not understand why the Government was dragging its heels.

“The Labor Party does support the Let Her Speak campaign,” Ms White said. “I’m very proud of Grace for being able to share her story, that would have taken enormous courage but it’s unfortunate that she had to go about it that way.

“It would be much better if we were able to change the laws in Tasmania so that she could speak knowing that she was protected in doing so.

“We support the right of victims to be able to share their story if that’s what they want. They shouldn’t be prohibited from doing that by the law.

“There’s certainly not enough urgency from Will Hodgman and his Government to act on this review and implement its recommendations because we know that there is cross-party support for the Let her Speak campaign.

“We should be working proactively and quickly to change the law and I don’t know why Will Hodgman is dragging his heels on this one.”