Question without notice
March 8, 2022
Tania MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11:53):
My question is for the Attorney-General. In March 2020 I raised an adjournment for the then Attorney-General, Ms (Jill) Hennessy MP, about the model bill for uniform evidence law following agreement between all federal, state and territory attorneys-general to allow juries in child abuse trials to hear evidence of an accused’s prior convictions and interest in children.
The response to this confirmed the government’s commitment to the model bill, and I hoped this would be introduced as soon as possible, ideally in 2020.
Given this bill is yet to be introduced, I ask the Attorney-General if she can advise what is holding up this legislation.
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (11:53):
I thank Ms Maxwell for her question in relation to tendency and coincidence proposals that my predecessor agreed to at the Council of Attorneys-General—as I think it was known as then; it is now the Meeting of Attorneys-General—in relation to the uniform evidence acts. That remains government policy.
As outlined in the recent annual report to Parliament, Victoria has done a power of work in relation to the implementation of the recommendations that were made by the royal commission.
It is my understanding that New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory have legislated. My advice is that, particularly in the case of NSW—which led this work—they deviated from the model that was agreed to at CAG, and they have recently announced a review and we will be receiving advice in relation to that in September. So we will use some of that information to inform our policy development.
It is fair to say that the work has commenced in Victoria, but it is very complex. We want to make sure we get it right, and learning from the experience in NSW will be a good way to do that.
Ms MAXWELL (11:55): Thank you, Attorney. Attorney, given the Council of Attorneys-General approved a draft model bill in 2019 and it was noted in the Victorian government report in 2020, I am just wondering: why is it that there is no mention of the model bill in the 2021 report tabled in the last sitting week?
Ms SYMES (11:55): I think, Ms Maxwell, as I have indicated, work has commenced. There have been concerns raised in NSW with stakeholders in relation to those reforms. As is always the case in the justice space, there is always room for reform.
You will note that we continue to bring forward legislation to bring about positive changes, particularly for victims, in the justice system, but you always want to get it right. So we will await the September advice from New South Wales in relation to their experience before we proceed further with a bill for Victoria.
