Victoria announces 'urgent' reforms to address concerns sexual assault survivors have been gagged

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Victoria announces 'urgent' reforms to address concerns sexual assault survivors have been gagged
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Victoria's Attorney-General Jill Hennessy says she will 'move urgently' to amend laws after survivors of sexual assault raised concerns that recent changes had stopped them from telling their stories.

"These laws provide an important protection to maintain the privacy of sexual offence victims and help ensure they are not exposed to additional distress — they were never intended to inhibit willing victim-survivors being able to speak out and share their stories," she said.

She said she expected "a lot of the issues will be ironed out" if the Government followed the recommendations made by the Victorian Law Reform Commission's Contempt of Court Report published earlier this month.In the report, the commission recommended that victims should be able to tell their story without needing a court order.

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