The ACT Human Rights Commission’s Intermediary Program marked its first year of operation earlier this week (9 March), assisting more than 150 children and adult witnesses provide evidence to police, lawyers and the court.
Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said the Commission’s program, which was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, assisted people ranging in age from four to 92 to give their evidence.
Mr Rattenbury said the Program provided services at police stations, courts, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and residences.
“We know that in the past, these people may not have been able to tell police what happened, or present clear evidence in court,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“An intermediary can truly transform a criminal justice process,” he said.
“Their presence can make the difference between a case that doesn’t proceed and one that results in conviction, or a traumatised witness and one that feels heard.”
Mr Rattenbury said the Intermediary Program helped to ensure the Territory’s most vulnerable people had access to justice, and that the trauma of being interviewed, or in court minimised.
He said the Commission’s Program included two full-time intermediaries who helped witnesses with language delays, mental health issues, learning disabilities or other communication difficulties to provide clear evidence.
Victims of Crime Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, Heidi Yates said the Commission was enormously proud of the service the Program provided in its first year, and of the Intermediaries who were available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet requests for assistance from police, lawyers and courts.
“Unfortunately, we know that predators consistently target the very young or the vulnerable, believing that they won’t be able to report what has happened,” Ms Yates said.
“With the help of a witness intermediary, even a very young child, or those with language and cognitive delays, can now explain what has happened to them, or what they witnessed,” she said.
