THEIR NAMES CAN NO LONGER BE KEPT SECRET..! – MAJOR LAW CHANGE MEANS CONVICTED R-A WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE SUPPRESSION ORDERS TO HIDE THEIR IDENTITIES FROM THE PUBLIC.
Convicted rapists will no longer be able to shield their identities from the public through suppression orders under changes proposed by the state government.
Victoria’s Open Courts Act would be amended in the next parliamentary term to limit the use of suppression orders if the Labor government is re-elected in November.
Premier Ben Carroll announced the commitment and declared his intention to stop suppression orders from being used to protect convicted rapists.
‘Suppression orders were designed to protect victim-survivors, not convicted rapists,’ he told reporters on Tuesday alongside Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny.
Challenging suppression orders has become more difficult in Victoria following changes to the Open Courts Act passed in 2013.
The changes broadened the grounds for obtaining a suppression order, with the wording changed from protecting a person’s ‘physical safety’ to simply protecting their ‘safety’.
Justin Quill, a partner at law firm Thomson Geer, said it had become common for defendants to cite mental health concerns as grounds for a suppression order, supported by a psychiatrist’s report.
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Convicted rapists will no longer be able to shield their identities from the public under suppression order changes proposed by Victorian Attorney General Sonya Kilkenny and Premier Ben Carroll
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Mental health grounds were used by Tom Silvagni (pictured with his mother Jo) to successfully keep his name from being publicised while facing a rape charge
Mental health grounds were used by Tom Silvagni, the son of AFL great Stephen Silvagni, and entertainment and sports manager Ralph Carr to successfully keep their names from being publicised for 18 months and almost three years, respectively, while facing rape charges.
Both were ultimately convicted, and the gag orders were lifted.
Kilkenny said an advisory group was reviewing other ‘loopholes’ used by high-profile accused and convicted people.
The review would examine interim suppression orders, the length of suppression orders and the reasons for granting them, she said.
‘If there are loopholes, we are going to close them, and they can’t be abused or exploited,’ Kilkenny said.
‘Justice must be open and there must be a balance with the right to a fair trial for the accused, but we have seen most recently that we need to look at that balance.’
The election promise was made as the Labor government introduced legislation to parliament to enact sweeping changes to family violence protections.
The bill would make coercive control a standalone offence and ban convicted offenders from using good-character references in sentencing, reforms committed to by former premier Jacinta Allan.
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Ralph Carr’s identity was shielded behind suppression orders for almost three years
It also amends the Equal Opportunity Act to outlaw discrimination against family violence victim-survivors, strengthens family violence intervention orders and expands personal safety intervention orders to recognise grooming.
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