Speech at opening of Annual Victim Support Conference

While our concern remains that victims should be well supported and helped to restore their lives following trauma as your vision states, we must also remember that when we work to rehabilitate offenders we are working to take away the circumstances that create victims in the first place - that is and must be the primary reason and the foundation for any criminal justice initiative.

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12 October 2007 Speech
Opening of the Annual Victim Support Conference


Introduction
[Mihi]
Thank you for the invitation and opportunity to open the annual Victim Support Conference for 2007. a special welcome to Professor Irvin Waller - our keynote speaker.

Meeting the needs of victims of crime is central to this Government's direction and objectives for the Justice Sector. In particular - for a society where all families, young and old are safe and secure so that they are able to reach their full potential.

Victim Support's vision: that 'Victims of crime and trauma will be well supported, safe and in control of restoring their lives' resonates strongly with our Government's objectives.

Funding
And so, as you know, additional funding was provided for Victim Support in Budget 2006. More than $10.8m was allocated over four years to complete the restructuring of Victim Support, which began in 2004.

That funding is going toward ensuring that Victim Support's structure and staff can continue to effectively meet the needs of victims. This includes the resourcing of more practice specialists and other key staff.

Victim Support
You will be aware, good progress has been made by Victim Support in moving towards a national service delivery model. Three key strands to this work are:

Firstly, having all Practice Specialists in place. These roles focus on implementing a coordinated approach to case management throughout the organisation and ensuring quality assurance methods are adopted for frontline service provision.

Secondly, a new Service Delivery Manager position has been created, focused on service delivery strategies for the entire Victim Support organisation.

Thirdly, detailed case management policies and procedures have been implemented for all new support workers joining Victim Support. These policies form an integral part of the improvements to Victim Support's provision of services to victims.

The conference
Turning to this year's conference.
The theme of this year's conference is 'Better Together'. It is a theme that underpins the collaborative approach taken towards achieving what is now an agreed set of outcomes in the justice sector. I will leave it to Mandy McDonald to discuss the outcomes framework developed by the Ministry of Justice in detail during her presentation later today.

Those working in the justice sector are working towards a safe and just society.

No one agency has sole responsibility for achieving this outcome. Collaboration across government, and in particular, between government agencies and community organisations is critical to making this possible.

Two particular examples that illustrate this approach are the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families and the Sexual Violence Taskforce.

Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families and the Sexual Violence Taskforce
The Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families was established in 2005. It is a significant commitment by the government and non-government sectors, independent Crown entities and the judiciary to work together and provide leadership to end family violence and promote stable, healthy families.

The recently established Taskforce for Action on Sexual violence, being made up of chief executives of relevant government departments and four representatives from the sexual violence non government sector, also demonstrates this collaborative approach.

The Sexual Violence Taskforce's role is to advise the government on how to reduce the incidence and impact of sexual violence and to take a strategic view of where government money is best spent to have the most impact.

As you know, family and sexual violence are crimes that often go unreported and often involve repeat victimisation. The work of both the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families and the Sexual Violence Taskforce will make a significant contribution to reducing the level of victimisation in our society.

Importantly the identification of gaps in the services available to victims of family and sexual violence is also a strong focus of this work

Restorative Justice
Meeting the needs of victims is also about helping to restore the dignity and peace of mind of victims, and giving them a safe and supported opportunity to express to the offender the impact the crime has had on their lives and hold those offenders accountable for their actions.

Restorative justice has proved effective in meeting the needs of many victims and I know that it is an area of particular interest to Victim Support. It is also a way that some offenders can confront their own actions, look seriously at what has led to their offending and address these factors.

Restorative Justice is one of the measures that is being strengthened as part of significant justice reform currently taking place.

The Government is committed to the use of restorative justice in the criminal justice system now and in the future, and we will continue to strengthen restorative justice services and to extend their use.

Some claim our justice system is too focused on addressing the offenders actions rather than the needs of victims.

While our concern remains that victims should be well supported and helped to restore their lives following trauma as your vision states, we must also remember that when we work to rehabilitate offenders we are working to take away the circumstances that create victims in the first place - that is and must be the primary reason and the foundation for any criminal justice initiative.

That said, I, and our Government welcomes new ideas and any opportunities for improving the support and services available to victims of crime and trauma.

Unfortunately, there are those who swoop on victims in their very moment of vulnerability, grief and trauma, to use their plight to advance their own agenda. In stark contrast there are those who stand ready to come and respond, any time of night or day, in often difficult situations, to help those who find themselves traumatised and the victims of a crime.

Restorative Justice and the work of Victim Support is very much about being ready to support people to heal and restore their lives following traumatic acts of crime.

By helping victims to grieve, to heal and to restore their lives, they are able to leave the label of victim behind and move on with their lives. By helping offenders to face up to their actions and the impact they have had on others - supporting them in turning their lives around, they too may leave the label of offender behind to become contributing members of society.

Justice and Electoral Committee Inquiry
You will be aware that the Justice and Electoral Committee have conducted an extensive inquiry into the rights of victims of crime, including a review of the legislation affecting victims and the services available to them. (My Parliamentary colleague, Nandor Tanzcos will no doubt speak more of this in his remarks to you later today). The issue of restitution for victims will - I am sure feature in the committees recommendations.

The Committee has heard from victims on a range of issues and consulted extensively throughout the justice sector and with Victim Support. The Committee has not yet indicated when it will complete the inquiry and report to Parliament. The Government will be giving careful and serious consideration to the Committee's report and what we expect to be comprehensive recommendations, when its work is complete.

Concluding remarks
In closing, I think you will agree that good progress has been made in meeting the needs of victims of crime, but there is of course much more to do. You, and the many others you represent have been and I know will continue to be key contributors to that work - I sincerely thank you all.

This conference provides an excellent opportunity for sharing ideas, discussing issues, and looking at the challenges in the area of crime and victimisation.

Thank you for your time and enjoy your conference and your visit to the capital.