The reforms, set to be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday, bring adult complainants into line with existing provisions for children under 16 and cognitively impaired persons, allowing their first testimony to be presented via a police interview recording rather than live oral evidence.
Attorney‑General Michael Daley said the measures would "go a long way towards making it less traumatising for sexual assault complainants to seek justice" and would help victims give their "best evidence" without having to recount their story repeatedly.
Under the new system, the recorded interview will serve as the complainant’s evidence‑in‑chief; however, the individual will still be required to appear in court for cross‑examination and any re‑examination by the prosecution.
A pilot of "ground rules" hearings – a pre‑trial process currently used in child sexual assault cases to set limits on questioning – will commence next year in the Parramatta, Wollongong and Dubbo District Courts and run from 2027 to 2030. These hearings will allow judges to direct the duration, manner and topics of questioning, and to arrange support services for the complainant.
Legal scholars Julia Quilter (University of Wollongong) and Luke McNamara (UNSW) welcomed the reforms, noting that their analysis of 75 District Court sexual offence trials between 2014 and 2020 showed complainants were often subjected to questioning rooted in rape myths. Both called for mandatory ground‑rules hearings in all sexual offence trials.
The government also pledged a review next year of the provisions for children, exploring whether adults could pre‑record all their evidence, and commissioned a University of Sydney study to assess the current sexual assault communications privilege that protects counselling records from disclosure.
The reforms are expected to minimise the need for complainants to repeat their testimony in the event of a retrial, potentially reducing the emotional toll of the judicial process while still preserving the defence’s right to cross‑examine.