Justice isn't served until crime victims are…

We believe that the potential for recovery for those affected by crime is directly related to the respect, honesty, openness, non-judgmental attitudes, kindness and generosity with which victims are treated by service providers, family, friends and the community.  

We do not keep secret the emphasis on the rights and choices of the accused in the Criminal Legal System and the virtual absence of real rights for victims of crimes so that the absence of balance can be clearly seen and at least partially understood. If victims know what they will face, they are generally more satisfied with the court process irrespective of whether the accused is found guilty or not.  That's a better outcome than 'feeling betrayed' by the court process where victims lose faith with the whole concept of a just society.

By way of example, Jane says:
'I'd always assumed ‘that justice worked’ as I sailed through life. Then, ‘it’ happened to me. I was beaten savagely and many times I thought I would be killed during that long, terrifying night. He was found ‘Guilty’ in the first trial. The whole process seemed poorly prepared and went through silly / incompetent processes about the way evidence was used or omitted and charges altered for convenience. I thought 'Well, these people are the experts - what do I know?'

In the end 'It’, the system, worked - sort of - he was convicted of just a little bit of what he had actually done to me. 'His word against mine' gives an advantage to an accused when there was no other witness to the violence despite the obvious injuries I suffered.    

I kept comparing it with the professionalism, accuracy, attention to detail, openness, accountability  and ‘exactness’ anyone else had to apply to work these days, particularly 'duty of care' and it left me wondering who really runs this system if the government doesn't, and what would the economic rationalists think of it?

Then he 'got off’ on appeal. That hearing was an extra-ordinary, life changing experience. So much worse than that crime of bloody-minded vicious violence I’d survived. Every belief I had about fairness and justice was abused.

The offender was treated kindly, respectfully and I was treated with contempt and distain. My experience of the violence of the crime and its awful physical and life outcomes were excluded. 'We will not talk about the events of that night' were the words the judge began the appeal with. I watched, with no power to affect anything as history was rewritten and manipulated, the truth became irrelevant.  The judge seemed to really enjoy ridiculing and demeaning me. It was weird - commonsense, facts and life were missing. And if I'd spoken I'd have been liable to be charged with 'contempt of court'. Perjury? No such thing apparent in that case.

What a 'system!’ I was shocked. Betrayed. This was not the justice I had been raised to expect. The truth was irrelevant. 'You get what you pay for’ echoed through my mind.....my solicitor was free, the Crown prosecutor. In those days, no one told me victims don't get a solicitor - so I thought he was on my side. What a joke! And the joke was on me!

Honestly, if I hadn't been there during the crime to understand the context of ongoing assault, utter fear, the dreadful, life changing physical, mental and financial damage of it, if I hadn't heard what went on in and out of court with my own ears, I would never have believed it. 

If it happened to someone else I could never have understood, or believed what 'The System’ fails to do, then expects, demands and dishes out to victims. And support from a victims group? Why should I need support - I had trusted the system of justice. It never crossed my mind it wasn't about stopping the violence - I thought it (the system) was about keeping society safe. It was not. It was a boy's club game of tricks and lies. I just didn't know what goes on.’
See Jane in Victims Stories

The Old Aussie Ideal – A Fair Go!
We just ask that victims of crime get honesty, fairness, and equality. We ask that victims are treated with respect - avoiding re-victimisation - by all workers in the field from police, counsellors, doctors, nurses, prosecutors, magistrates, judges, bureaucrats of any type, lawyers, politicians and Independent Tribunals, and educators (Universities, TAFE colleges, Police Academy etc), and that in all processes their needs are central to any decisions.

'I was a police officer for ten years. I always thought I did a good job and “understood” about victims - and compared with others I did. The rule in the service is “protect yourself, protect your partner then get the offender”. One week with VOCAL showed me how ignorant I had been. It should be compulsory for police to do work experience here.’
Sue (2004).