Pro Bono work transforms rights protection for victims of sexual assault

Women's Legal Services NSW and law firms Blake Dawson, Clayton Utz and Freehills, welcome the reforms to Sexual Assault Communication Privilege which have been passed by the NSW Parliament this week.

These reforms represent the culmination of a two-year Pro Bono project by these four organisations, in conjunction with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, to protect the rights of victims of sexual assaults during the criminal trial process.

Sexual Assault Communications Privilege ("SACP") prevents defendants in criminal trials from being able to trawl through a victim's confidential counselling records. The policy behind SACP is to protect the confidentiality of sexual assault counselling, so as to encourage sexual assault victims to seek and stay in counselling, and to make victims feel more confident about being able to report sexual assaults. The reforms passed by Parliament ensure that the victim is made aware of her or his right to oppose the