Crimes Legislation Amendment (Law Enforcement Integrity, Vulnerable Witness Protection and Other Measures) Act 2013

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Law Enforcement Integrity, Vulnerable Witness Protection and Other Measures) Act 2013 sets out to amend the Crimes Act 1914 in a number of mostly unrelated measures. However, one of its chief purposes is to provide greater protection to vulnerable witnesses and victims in Commonwealth criminal proceedings.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC had explained during the Act’s introduction into parliament “Prosecutions for human trafficking and slavery rely heavily on witness testimony, so it is vital that we have measures to assist victims to give their best possible evidence to the court,”. The Act will seek to minimise re-traumatisation of victims of crime by giving them appropriate protection when giving evidence.

The protections available will include the ability to give evidence by closed-circuit television, video recording or video link, and to have the company of a support person when giving evidence. These protections will apply automatically to victims of human-trafficking, slavery and slavery like offences such as forced marriage.

The Act also includes amendments to several other acts including the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 wherein it seeks to improve the Integrity Commissioner’s ability to access information held by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. It also ensures that reviews of this information will be effective and efficient. The act also makes miscellaneous amendments to other acts of a criminal nature.

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