Australia introduces legislation to protect vulnerable witnesses, victims

Legislation to protect vulnerable witnesses and victims in Commonwealth criminal proceedings was introduced into Australian Parliament on Wednesday.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill will extend support to witnesses in Commonwealth criminal proceedings who are vulnerable either due to the nature of the offence, or to a particular characteristic, such as age, cultural background, or a disability.

Protections available will include the ability to give evidence by closed-circuit television, video recording or video link, and to have a support person accompany the witness when giving evidence.

The protections will apply automatically to victims of human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offences, including forced marriage, in recognition of the extreme forms of trauma and exploitation they have experienced.

"Prosecutions for human trafficking and slavery rely heavily on witness testimony, so it is vital that we have measures to assist victims to give their best possible evidence to the court.

"The Bill will minimize the risk of re-traumatisation these victims face when giving evidence by providing appropriate support and protection," said Dreyfus.

The Bill will also allow all individual victims of Commonwealth offences to make a victim impact statement, outlining the harm they have experienced as a result of the offence.

The Bill also makes some changes to the investigation and prosecution for people-smuggling offences. It removes wrist X-rays as a prescribed age determination procedure, and ensures that the onus of proof in establishing age in people-smuggling prosecutions lies with the prosecution.

This will ensure that legislation reflects the current practice of agencies not to use wrist X-rays to determine a person's age, and that a person's age is a matter for judicial determination, similar to other matters required to be proved at trial.

There have been cases that some Indonesian children in asylum seekers boat got locked up in adult prisons in Australia following wrist X-ray method.