Victims Legislation Amendment Bill
2003

Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.

Overview of Bill

The objects of this Bill are as follows:

(a) to amend the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 to enable victims
of serious crimes (or their representatives) to read out victim impact
statements in court,

(b) to amend the Charter of Victims Rights set out in the Victims Rights Act
1996:

        (i) to require victims of crime to be informed in a timely manner of
certain aspects of criminal proceedings against an accused person,
and
        (ii) to require victims of a serious crime that involves sexual violence,
or that results in actual bodily harm, mental illness or nervous shock
to the victim, to be consulted before any decision of the prosecution
to modify or not to proceed with charges against the accused person
is taken,

(c) to amend the Victims Support and Rehabilitation Act 1996 to enable the
immediate family of a person who is killed in a motor accident to apply
for payments for approved counselling services under the Act if the
person’s death apparently occurred in the course of the commission of an
offence of murder or manslaughter.

Outline of provisions

Clause 1 sets out the name (also called the short title) of the proposed Act.

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or days
to be appointed by proclamation.

Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the Crimes
(Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 set out in Schedule 1.

Clause 4 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the Victims
Rights Act 1996 set out in Schedule 2.

Clause 5 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendment to the Victims
Support and Rehabilitation Act 1996 set out in Schedule 3.

Schedule 1 Amendment of Crimes (Sentencing
Procedure) Act 1999
Schedule 1 [2] inserts new section 30A into the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure)
Act 1999. The proposed section allows written victim impact statements that
may be received and considered by a court in sentencing proceedings under
current provisions of the Act to be read out in court by a victim to whom the
statement relates, or a member of the immediate family, or other representative,
of the victim. (Under the Act, victim impact statements may be given only in
relation to serious offences, for example, those that result in death of or actual
physical bodily harm to a person, or that involve an act of actual or threatened
violence or an act of sexual assault.)
Schedule 1 [1] makes a consequential amendment.

Schedule 2 Amendment of Victims Rights Act 1996
Schedule 2 [2] replaces item 6.5 of the Charter of Victims Rights. At present
item 6.5 provides that a victim should, on request, be informed about certain
aspects of criminal proceedings against the accused person, such as the charges
laid against the accused, any decision to modify or not to proceed with charges,
the date and place of hearing of any charge laid against the accused, and the
outcome of any criminal proceedings and the sentence (if any) imposed.

Under proposed item 6.5 (1), a victim does not need to make a request to be
given this information. Instead, as a matter of course, the victim should be
informed of these aspects in a timely manner.

Proposed item 6.5 (2) provides that if the accused has been charged with a
serious crime that involves sexual violence or that results in actual bodily harm,
mental illness or nervous shock to the victim, the victim should be consulted
before any decision is made by the prosecution to modify or not to proceed with
the charges, including any decision to accept a plea of guilty by the accused to a
less serious charge in return for a full discharge with respect to the other charges.

The victim need not be consulted if the victim does not wish to be consulted, or
if the whereabouts of the victim cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry.

Schedule 2 [1] amends section 5 of the Victims Rights Act 1996, which specifies
who is a victim of crime for the purposes of the Act. Section 5 provides that if a
person dies as a result of an act committed, or apparently committed, by another
person in the course of a criminal offence, a member of the person’s immediate
family is also a victim of crime for the purposes of the Act.

The proposed amendment enables the members of the immediate family of a
person who dies as the result of such an act to nominate a representative for the
purposes of the Charter of Victims Rights (for example, to receive information
provided under the Charter, or to be consulted about a decision to modify or not
to proceed with charges against the accused person).

Schedule 3 Amendment of Victims Support and
Rehabilitation Act 1996
Schedule 3 amends the definition of victim in section 21 of the Victims Support
and Rehabilitation Act 1996 to enable members of the immediate family of a
person who is killed in a motor accident to apply for payments for approved
counselling services under the Act if the person’s death apparently occurred in
the course of the commission of an offence of murder or manslaughter. The Act
at present excludes the payment of compensation (including for counselling
services) in connection with motor accidents.

Note: If this Bill is not modified, these Explanatory Notes would reflect the Bill as passed in the House. If the Bill has been amended by Committee, these Explanatory Notes may not necessarily reflect the Bill as passed.

 

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