Victorian Attorney-General plans to strengthen sexual assault testimony laws

They were among reforms flagged by the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2025 and the Victorian Law Reform Commission in 2021.

Jacinta Masters, campaign manager at gender equity campaigning group Fair Agenda, said the option of pre-recorded testimony would ensure victim-survivors “can start their healing journey earlier”.

“Changing laws to provide more victim-survivors the option to pre-record their testimony has been backed by legal experts from both the Victorian and Australian Law Reform Commission – expanding access to this option makes sense at a policy level and a human level,” Masters said.

Advocate Marita Forsyth said she experienced the “devastating impacts” the justice system can have on survivors, particularly because she was made to wait five years for her case to reach a courtroom.

“I welcome the Victorian government’s decision to expand pre-recorded testimony, it’s a meaningful step toward giving victim-survivors real choice in a system where choice has so often been denied.

“There is still so much that needs to be fixed in the justice system, but today’s announcement is a genuinely positive step forward,” she said.

VIEW ALL

Brittany Higgins was among the group of advocates who signed the open letter calling for stronger protections for complainants.

Higgins, whose counselling records were subpoenaed during the criminal trial of her alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann, told Guardian Australia that it felt “like such a violation”.

“And for the most part, it’s all considered hearsay evidence. It’s not even particularly meaningful evidence in the court of law, and it just completely retraumatises the person at the centre of it,” Higgins said.