Sexual consent advocates lambast call for ACT criminal law changes

It comes after Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds made a submission to the ACT board of inquiry investigating the handling of Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial, calling for changes to the ACT Crimes Act to discourage people from using the media or parliamentary forums in relation to a criminal allegation, according to a report in The Australian.

In her submission, the senator referenced a section of the NSW Crimes Act that makes it an offence for anyone who knows or believes that a serious indictable offence has been committed and fails to report it to police.

Citing news reports on the matter, Greens Senator Larissa Waters asked advocates how this would impact survivors during a Senate inquiry into sexual consent laws on Tuesday.

Saxon Mullins, a sexual assault survivor and Director of Advocacy for Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, described the proposal as "unbelievable" and said would strip survivors of their agency.

"Survivors have lots of different experiences when they go through the justice system, and they'll have lots of different takeaways from it," she said.

"But the one thing that will always stay the same is that your agency has been taken away and to suggest that that should be done on your behalf, of some perverted view of what justice looks like is disgusting."

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Senator Reynolds' proposal comes after the federal opposition accused Labor senator Katy Gallagher, alleged rape survivor Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, of colluding to gain political advantage against the Coalition by using the former Liberal staffer's rape allegation.

Ms Higgins, a former Liberal staffer, alleged she was raped by colleague Mr Lehrmann at Parliament House in 2019 in Senator Reynolds' office, who was Defence Industry Minister at the time.

Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegations and his trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.

A survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that 87 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.

Ms Higgins said Senator Reynolds' proposal undermined the work of Let Her Speak, a campaign to abolish sexual assault victim gag-laws, and accused the former Defence Industry Minister of trying to silence victims.

Rachael Burgin, Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy chief executive, whose organisation partners with the Let Her Speak campaign, also condemned Senator Reynolds' suggestion on Tuesday.

"It's a completely ridiculous assertion to make," she said.

"We strongly condemn those comments and question the the ethos that got the [Senator] to the point to make that statement.

"It's a grueling and difficult thing to report sexual violence to anyone in your life, to your most trusted confidant let alone to a police organisation that historically doesn't have a great track record."

In a statement to The Canberra Times, a spokesperson for Senator Reynolds said the senator "strongly believes that the control and agency of a complainant is of paramount concern" and "considers that it is their decision to engage or not engage with criminal justice agencies".

The spokesperson however said the situation becomes "untenable where a complainant, or third parties acting on their behalf (or with their consent), pursue an allegation of criminality through the media and Parliament, instead of the more appropriate channels".

"Circumventing the appropriate and accepted legal practices (such as by the exploitation of media and/or political forums) adversely impacts the proper functioning of the agencies operating within the criminal justice system," the spokesperson said.

"Any reform should discourage any person from pursuing a complaint through avenues other than the criminal justice system (including via the media and Parliamentary forums), in circumstances where the complainant has decided not to proceed via the criminal justice system."

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With AAP