Lawyers of a high-profile man accused of rape must seek a non-publication order before Oct. 3 after new laws allowing the public naming of people charged with rape and other prescribed sexual offences passed in Queensland State Parliament on Sept. 13.
The Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 modernises and strengthens Queensland’s laws. It comes after the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce’s (WSJT) Report One recommended the public naming of accused sex offenders in cases where they are charged from July 2022. Previous laws only named alleged offenders once they were committed to trial.
The new laws are relevant to the high-profile man charged but yet to stand trial over two counts of rape in January 2023. From Oct. 3 2023, the man would be treated equally to individuals charged with any other offence, with details about their identity able to be published, except where it would identify or tend to lead to the identification of the complainant.
During court the man’s lawyer Rowan King flagged he would most likely seek a non-publication order. He unsuccessfully sought a one-week adjournment in August 2023 to apply to maintain the suppression of his client’s name when the bill was before parliament.
At that time the magistrate said Mr. King was welcome to apply to suppress; however, it would only be heard once certainty was clear about when the legislation would come into effect.
Meanwhile, Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister Yvette D'Ath said: “The legislation passed on Sept. 13 will also update several laws where the Queensland Government has committed to the community–including recognition of the death of an unborn child due to an offender’s actions. This will ensure courts treat such tragic deaths as aggravating sentencing factors.”
Ms. D'Ath said victims’ interest was at the forefront of new reforms as “rape and sexual assault are some of the most underreported criminal offences in Australia, and we (the Queensland government) want to support victims to come forward and hold perpetrators to account.”
She said the government hopes modernising these laws would mean “even more victim-survivors will be encouraged to report their experience to the police” and “rape myths have no place in our society.”
The opposition supported the government’s bill, and Shadow attorney-general Tim Nicholls said there were no “significant negative consequences” in jurisdictions where the accused could be named earlier.
Mr. Nicholls said, “[w]e think of other serious offences such as murder and manslaughter where the accused is named almost immediately, along with similar serious offences, the logic of retaining the restriction seems even less tenable.”
Meanwhile, the reform brought Queensland closer to all Australian jurisdictions other than the Northern Territory. As of 2019, Northern Territory law currently prohibits the identification of survivors telling their stories and being identified if they so freely choose. It is up to the court to make an order to the contrary.
While in Queensland, the defendant, their alleged victim(s) or the prosecution can apply to a Queensland court for a non-publication order, but when deciding such applications, the court must consider various matters, including any submissions or views expressed by or on behalf of the alleged victim.
Road to Justice: How the Queensland Government is Responding to WSJT Report One
It comes after the Queensland Government considered the recommendations of Report One and released a supporting or supporting-in-principle of all the Taskforce’s 89 recommendations in May 10, 2022. Work is now underway to implement them.For example, the Palaszczuk government announced on Sept. 6 the establishment of an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) to support crime prevention amidst Queensland’s crime victim escalation. The IAG would give crime victims another voice to improve how the Queensland government receives and deals with victims’ feedback.
The Department of Justice and Attorney General said the government recognised coercive control constitutes a pattern of behaviours perpetrated against a person to create a climate of fear, isolation, intimidation and humiliation. Fundamentally, it is about power and control.
Relationships Australia Victoria said coercive control is a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviours, and the first round of legislative reforms to strengthen Queensland’s response to coercive control was introduced into Parliament on Oct. 14, 2022.
This first tranche of systemic reforms paved the way for the criminalisation of coercive control before the end of 2023, and the Queensland Government said the approach to the implementation of the WSJT recommendations is broadly consistent with the sequencing proposed in the Taskforce’s 4-phase plan to prioritise actions.
Ms. D'Ath said the Palaszczuk Government would “continue to look at how we (the government) can further strengthen our justice system to hold offenders accountable and increase the transparency of sentencing decisions to meet community expectations.”
The high-profile matter is due for another hearing at Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Sept. 20.
