Response to Report Two from the Taskforce
The Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce (the Taskforce) released its second and final report Hear her voice – Report Two – Women and girls' experiences across the criminal justice system (Report Two) on 1 July 2022.
This report focused on women’s experiences in the criminal justice system as victim-survivors of sexual violence and as accused persons and offenders. The report includes 188 recommendations to improve women and girls’ experiences of the criminal justice system.
The Queensland Government’s response to Report Two
The Queensland Government has considered all 188 recommendations of Report Two and supports 103 recommendations in full, supports 71 recommendations in principle, and 14 recommendations are noted.
The Queensland Government response aims to significantly improve the experiences of Queensland women and girls who come into contact with the criminal justice system as victim-survivors of sexual violence and as accused persons and offenders. The response focuses Queensland Government efforts on:
- progressing systemic and legislative reform
- placing victim-survivors at the centre
- working with First Nations communities
- reshaping community attitudes about sexual consent and sexual violence
- meeting demand for sexual violence support services across the state
- appropriate court management and sentencing for women and girls as accused
- delivering justice
- rehabilitating women in prison and girls in detention
- measuring our performance—governance, monitoring and evaluation.
The Queensland Government will progress amendments to move to an affirmative model of consent, which will better reflect community expectations of equality and mutual respect in sexual relationships and will drive changes in the way sexual offences are prosecuted and defended. Other legislative amendments will recognise ‘stealthing’ as rape and reform the laws of evidence and procedure as they apply to sexual offences.
Government will also renew its focus to meet the needs of women and girls as accused persons and offenders through specialist court models and court-based programs operating in Queensland, including strengthening the Murri Court model and programs to support the rehabilitation of women in prison and girls in detention.
Read the full Queensland Government response to each individual recommendation of Report Two.
More information
Reforms are already underway to improve the justice system through implementation of the Queensland Government’s response to recommendations made in Report One.
Read about the Queensland Government’s response to Report One of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce recommendations.
Contact us
Please email pmowsvp@justice.qld.gov.au for more information regarding the Queensland Government response.