ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr officially tabled the report of the Board of Inquiry into the Criminal Justice System in the Australian Capital Territory – better known to the public as the Sofronoff report into the Brittany Higgins case.

The ACT Government announced in December that it would establish a Board of Inquiry to examine the conduct of criminal justice agencies involved in the trial of R v Lehrmann, after then-ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold accused the police of misconduct, and police in turn claimed that Mr Drumgold had compromised the trial.

“The government was concerned to ensure that the Territory’s framework for progressing criminal investigations and prosecutions is robust, fair, and respects the rights of those involved; and the Territory’s criminal justice entities work effectively together, and appropriately within their respective statutory frameworks,” Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said.

The public has known the findings of the report for nearly a month now. That it was appropriate to prosecute Bruce Lehrmann, based on the information available at the time. (Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegation.) That Mr Drumgold behaved improperly. (He has resigned, and is suing the board of inquiry.) That ACT Policing acted in good faith and conducted a thorough investigation, despite some mistakes. And that the involvement of Heidi Yates, the Victims of Crime Commissioner, was consistent with her duties.

Mr Barr had intended to release the report today, following proper cabinet process, but Walter Sofronoff KC, the inquiry chair, gave embargoed copies of the report to The Australian and the ABC. The Australian then published the report’s contents, to Mr Barr’s fury; in his view, Mr Sofronoff’s leak could have breached the Inquiries Act 1991.

“The original case of R v Lehrmann, for which the inquiry was called, and the inquiry itself, have been subject to significant interest all across the country,” Mr Barr said. “And with this interest comes scrutiny, opinions and judgements from those on the outside looking in. We as a country need to do better in our reporting of these matters, particularly when it comes to alleged sexual assaults and other intimately violent crimes, and recognise the real and significant human impact it has on those involved.”

The report makes 10 recommendations; the ACT Government agrees with eight and in principle to two.

Three recommendations called for the ACT Government to consider law reform: amendments to the Victims of Crime Act 1994 to clarify the threshold for updating the victim about the status of the investigation; clarification on disclosure of protected confidences, including statutory prohibitions against disclosure of protected confidence without leave of court; and the scope and content of the obligation of disclosure the prosecution owed in criminal proceedings.

Tara Cheyne, ACT Minister for Human Rights, introduced a bill today to amend the Charter of Victims Rights in the Victims of Crime Act. It ensures police update victims about important changes in investigations as early as possible, once they decide to change the status of an investigation, rather than after those changes have taken place.

“Expressly requiring police to give updates before charging or arresting a person will ensure victims have an opportunity to make representations to police and other relevant agencies to address any concerns they have about their safety,” Ms Cheyne said. “This amendment puts victims’ safety first.”

Where police consider giving an update would prejudice the investigation, they are not required to give the victim an update.

A review of the Charter will begin next year.

Six recommendations were directed to ACT Policing and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions about the development and refinement of policy and guidance materials and training of ACT Policing officers, Mr Rattenbury noted.

Since receiving the report, Mr Barr said, the ACT Government has established an Implementation Committee to progress those recommendations.

“That will strengthen community confidence in how our criminal justice agencies respond to matters concerning sexual assault in the community,” Mr Barr said.

“The Inquiry has been an important step in reviewing our criminal justice system, reflecting on current practices and processes, and identifying areas where agencies can work together to strengthen the system for all who engage in it,” Mr Rattenbury said.

“The government takes allegations of sexual offences seriously, and acknowledges the devastating impact that sexual violence has on individuals, families, and the community.”

Sexual assault measures

Mr Rattenbury noted several measures that the ACT Government had already implemented.

In December 2021, the Listen. Take Action to Prevent, Believe and Heal Report, produced by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Steering Committee,made 24 recommendations for reform, including a long-term sexual violence prevention strategy; an ongoing consultation program with victim survivors; enhanced workplace safety; improved data collection; and a governance model to co-ordinate these reforms. The ACT Government agreed to most of these recommendations.

In May 2022, the Sexual Assault Police Review began, a cross-agency taskforce investigating sexual assault matters reported to ACT Policing that did not proceed to charge – one of the Listen report’s recommendations. It is examining nearly 750 allegations of sexual violence made to police between 2020 and 2021 that did not lead to an arrest, to understand the low number of offence reports proceeding to charge. The ACT Government committed $2.8 million to establish the Review.

The ACT Government will establish a Victim Survivor Consultation Program; appoint independent sexual violence researchers; pilot a Multidisciplinary Centre for sexual violence; and fund an independent researcher to expand the availability of restorative justice and explore alternative civil justice responses to sexual violence.

“This is all about ensuring that our reforms are guided by the voices and experiences of victim survivors, and bringing specialist sexual violence services together to have a trauma-aware and healing-informed response,” Yvette Berry, ACT Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence and for Women, said.

In this year’s Budget, the ACT Government committed $1 million to a second phase of reforms, including research into ways to hold perpetrators accountable, and more funding for the Multidisciplinary Centre, Ms Berry said.

The government has also begun an independent specialist services review of domestic, family, and sexual violence specialist crisis response services in the ACT.

This year, the government changed legislation to provide that evidence of prior domestic and family violence between parties is admissible in sexual offence proceedings.

This follows legislative changes last year changing the name of “sexual relationship with child or young person under special care” to “persistent sexual abuse”; changing the definition of sexual consent from something that is presumed and can be negated to something that is unassumed and must be given; and allowing for the recorded evidence of a witness who provides their evidence in the courtroom in one hearing to be admissible as their evidence in a related proceeding, ensuring they are not re-traumatised.

Last year, too, the government made it compulsory for workplaces to report sexual assault to WorkSafe ACT.

“The ACT Government encourages Canberrans to keep reporting alleged crimes,” Mr Barr said. “The government’s response to this report will help us to build a better and more robust system that reflects the needs of alleged victims, as well as the presumption of innocence of those accused.”