Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (18:42): I rise to make a contribution to the Justice Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025. As we know, this is the second bill of its kind in this place for this year, rectifying some of the mistakes that have been made in the past. Whilst there are some important changes in this bill, there is still a lot more to be done to address the issues of crime and justice that are impacting on people’s lives every single day. I might start my contribution by just perhaps sharing some of my experiences. As we know, crime in this state is escalating and it is having a direct impact on all parts of the state, including my electorate. Crime across the state is increasing, and my electorate is no different. Crime in Greater Shepparton is up 10.8 per cent. Whether it be retail theft, home invasions, carjackings or knife crime, everyday Victorians are being impacted. People do not feel safe in their homes, they do not feel safe on the streets, and this is due to the escalation of crime. We are seeing ongoing firebombing across the state of tobacco stores. In fact I think it is over 100. Yesterday morning in the early hours, a gift shop in the main street of Mooroopna, which is a town in my electorate, was completely gutted following a ram raid, and the store was set alight in what police have described as a targeted arson attack. This has rattled the small-knit community, has caused a great deal of anxiety and has even enhanced the sense of unsafety. Another store in Mooroopna has been targeted and attacked three times in the past few months. Local community champion Azem has a cafe in the main street. His window has been smashed twice. He makes very little profit. He actually helps the homeless. It is these types of reckless acts that really impact communities, small businesses and someone that is trying to just do a good deed.
One of the staff from my office came to Melbourne prior to finishing up at the end of term last year. She wanted to come and have a day in Parliament, and she had not been here for quite some time. And guess what, she got up the next day and her car had been stolen, right here in the heart of Melbourne. The government has been slow on the wheel on this front and have been doing nothing to protect Victorians from this ongoing escalation of crime and war. The government thinks the solution is to deploy 14 inspectors to crack down on the ongoing issue of illicit tobacco sales, with no power to shut them down. We have 367 fewer full-time police officers under this Premier, a police shortage of more than 1400 vacancies and 41 police stations have either closed or are operating on limited hours. How can we address rising crime when police numbers are reducing at an all-time high, and more and more police stations are being closed or have had their hours reduced? One statistic that has staggered me locally from my police officers on the ground is that they continually tell me the incidence of up to a 75 per cent increase in crime is taking up to 70 per cent of their time and taking them off the street.
We are finding now that they are not able to get out to do the job that they need to do. Seventy per cent of their time is taken up with family violence incidents. I have asked the Minister for Police to provide this critical resource to help our police manage the escalating family violence incidents, and he is very aware of the significant impact that not having enough officers at the Shepparton station is having on protecting communities. The police are frustrated. They want to be there for our community when they need them. They are doing the best they can, but is it any wonder we have police leaving the force when they are sitting all day having to fill out domestic violence incident reports when they also need to be out on the ground protecting and serving their communities?
Family violence and breaches of family violence orders continue to be the number one offence in my electorate, followed by criminal damage, theft from retail stores, theft in general and motor vehicle theft. Stalking-related offences are at a 10-year high in this state, with just under 14,800 stalking-related offences recorded in the year to September 2025, the highest since 2016. Again, how can we address these rising numbers when police numbers are being reduced? People are sick to death of reoffenders getting let out on bail and onto the streets only to reoffend again within hours. More than ever before, our court and justice system is overwhelmed and it is under-resourced, all because of the government’s track record when it comes to protecting Victorians.
As we saw in recent reports, accused criminals are having their bail applications prioritised ahead of other cases, which is forcing victims of crime to wait for justice and their day in court. As we all know, being a victim-survivor of sexual and family violence offences takes a toll on their life, whether it be physically, emotionally or socially. Through the bill, they will be empowered so that they have the ability to take control of their story by requiring the court or VCAT to revoke a pre-existing order if the victim-survivor gives permission for that revocation. This will enable eligible investigations to be finalised sooner. This is a welcome amendment, which seeks to implement recommendation 4 of the Coronial Council of Victoria’s review of reportable deaths in Victoria.
The bill seeks to also amend the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 to enable doctors who have reviewed a person’s medical history and the circumstances of their death and are satisfied of the person’s probable cause of death to notify the registrar of the cause of death. Some other amendments the bill makes are around strengthening fines enforcement, clarifying delegation powers, allowing notices to be sent to addresses supplied in nomination statements, improving processes for declared director challenges and some minor reforms for warrants and enforcement review.
The Infringements Act 2006 will clarify service of infringement notices, establish rules for service by electronic means, tighten criteria for withdrawing notices and expand review grounds and timeframes. The Road Safety Act 1986 will have new extensions of time when no actual notice is received, clarify use of effective statements to avoid liability and standardise provisions across road and marine contexts. The tolling acts will provide clear powers for tolling corporations to notify enforcement agencies of non-payment and modernise service and nomination systems.
I would also like to touch on the acquittal and implementation of recommendation 133 of the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s 2020 Contempt of Court report. The commission, back in 2018, was asked by the then Andrews government to consider contempt of court law reform. Contempt of court is any conduct that risks interfering with the ability of the courts to perform their role. The VLRC’s final report was tabled on 4 August 2020 and recommended to the government that as a state we need a contempt of court act to define different types of contempt and make the law clearer and fairer. In doing so, the bill before the house today seeks to enable applications to be made to lower courts and VCAT to vary or revoke legacy suppression orders made by those courts or tribunals. As we know, suppression orders over time have been used by our courts and in proceedings to prohibit or restrict the publication of disclosure or specific information. In its report the VLRC used the term ‘legacy suppression orders’ to describe such suppression orders made under the common law or repealed provisions in court acts prior to the commencement of the Open Courts Act 2013, which was on 1 December 2013, more than 12 years ago today. That act itself, the Open Courts Act, consolidated the general powers of the Supreme Court, the County Court, the Magistrates’ Court, VCAT and the Coroner’s Court to make suppression orders and close court orders, but the act did not address legacy suppression orders. Because of this gap and limitation legislation, such orders do not have an end date, and unlike suppression orders made under the act, they operate for a maximum period of five years. In practice today, legacy suppression orders operate indefinitely or until further order, which is contrary to the principle of open justice. Upholding this principle is a fundamental legal and democratic principle, but it also seeks to promote responsibility by holding those accountable while raising awareness of such issues.
Following the tabling of the commission’s final report, the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in the Chairperson of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants v Director of Public Prosecutions Victoria and others cast doubt on the power of lower courts and VCAT to review legacy suppression orders. Because of this decision, the Supreme Court is only empowered to review such orders under its jurisdiction invested through the court by the Constitution Act 1975. In addressing this, the bill seeks to enable lower courts and VCAT to review legacy suppression orders made by those courts or tribunals. Under the bill these will be referred to as pre-existing orders. Where there is an appeal of a substantive proceeding the appellate court will be able to review the pre-existing order made in the lower court or tribunal and make any order that a court or tribunal could have made under the Open Courts Act. It is hoped that through these amendments they will largely mirror existing suppression order review provisions that are contained in the Open Courts Act.
Another amendment I would like to touch on is the amendment of the Coroners Act 2008 – which I did earlier – to establish a new finalisation pathway for certain natural cause death investigations. This primarily is to reduce the workload by enabling more medical practitioners to certify natural cause deaths and form a part of a systemic effort to reduce pressure on the Coroners Court. Doctors may certify deaths after reviewing medical history or examining circumstances even if they were not treating the patient. We know that for anyone losing a loved one it is an incredibly emotional and difficult time, and getting that closure is incredibly important. A coroner can exercise a discretion to use a pathway under the act so a pathologist or a medical practitioner under the supervision of a pathologist can register the cause of death and other prescribed particulars with the registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. This will enable eligible investigations to be finalised sooner. This is a welcome amendment which seeks to implement recommendation 4 of the Coronial Council of Victoria’s Review of Reportable Deaths in Victoria report. The Coroners Court Act will be amended to limit the standing to apply for coronial findings to be set aside to certain classes of applicant with a connection to the investigation and to allow the Coroners Court to set aside coronial findings on its own motion where new facts and circumstances make it appropriate to do so. In closing, we do not oppose the bill.
