Announcing the reforms on Saturday, Premier Ben Carroll said the changes would target the violence that is ‘killing a Victorian woman every two weeks’.
The government, if re-elected in November, will increase maximum penalties for all serious sexual offences by five years, and raise the standard sentence for offenders who murder a current or former partner from 25 to 30 years.
Two new offences have been proposed. The first, an Australian-first, would criminalise family violence offenders who abandon victims in need of urgent medical care — inspired by the deaths of Narelle Simmons and Belinda Jones. The second would create a new form of manslaughter for abusers who drive their partners to suicide, responding to research showing women who experience domestic violence are three times more likely to have attempted suicide.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said the changes would ‘hold perpetrators to account and set the standard for what Victorians will never tolerate’.
Labor also plans to amend evidence laws so courts can consider an accused's history of sexual abuse, including prior convictions for similar offending, as admissible evidence at trial. The Evidence Act would be altered to prohibit ‘humiliating’ and ‘invasive’ questioning techniques during cross-examination.
Opposition and legal groups are expected to scrutinise the proposals in the lead-up to the November election.