📜 Evidence Amendment (Reducing Retraumatisation for Survivors of Sexual Offending) Bill 2026

Legislative Council Second ReadingLCBill 8320 August 2026Private Member

This Bill amends the Evidence Act 2025 to allow video-recorded police interviews of sexual offence complainants to be used as evidence in chief, regardless of the complainant's age at the time of the alleged offence. This aims to reduce retraumatisation for survivors by extending current provisions that only apply to child complainants.

Impact

This bill primarily affects survivors of sexual offending by reducing the need for them to repeatedly recount traumatic experiences in court, potentially improving their experience within the justice system. It also impacts the legal process for sexual offence cases by broadening the admissibility of recorded interviews as evidence in chief.

Key Changes

["Removes the age-based limitation for admitting recorded interviews as evidence in chief in sexual offence proceedings.", "Extends the existing provision for using video-recorded police interviews as evidence in chief to all complainants in sexual offence cases, regardless of their age at the time of the alleged offending.", "Amends section 252(1)(a) of the Evidence Act 2025 to allow recorded interviews to be admitted if the person interviewed is the complainant in a criminal proceeding for a sexual offence."]