Toughest Penalties Ever for Rapists and Sex Offenders
Every victim-survivor of family or sexual violence deserves justice.
And perpetrators deserve to face serious consequences.
The justice system must deliver real justice in sexual violence cases – with no excuses or legal loopholes.
Victoria’s laws lead the nation under Labor, but there’s more to do.
That’s why a re-elected Carroll Labor Government will:
• Introduce a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for rape
• Increase maximum penalties for all serious sexual offences
• Introduce a new, standard sentence of 30 years for murder of a current or former partner
• Allow courts to consider patterns of sexual abuse by an accused at trial
• Toughen the law to stop barristers from using humiliating questioning techniques
• Introduce a new form of manslaughter to include where someone has taken their life due to family violence
• Increase the penalty for repeatedly breaching a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO)
• Create a new offence and amend the definition of family violence to cover when a perpetrator abandons a victim in medical need
Tougher penalties for partner murder, rape and sexual offences
Rapists rob their victims of the future they had planned for themselves.
They deserve to have their own futures taken away.
If re-elected, Labor will introduce life imprisonment for rapists – because the worst crimes deserve the strongest punishment possible.
Labor will also increase the maximum penalty for every serious sexual offence by 5 years.
We’ll also introduce a standard sentence of 30 years – up from 25 – for the murder of a current or former partner.
The rate of perpetrators breaching FVIOs is increasing – we need to increase the penalties for breaching them.
Currently persistent FVIO breaches attract a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Labor will make it 10 years.
Changing the rules in the court room
Currently, it is too difficult for an accused's history of sexual abuse to be used as evidence in court.
This has prevented people accused of multiple acts of sexual abuse from being prosecuted.
We will change the law so courts can consider patterns of sexual abuse as evidence and use them at trial.
Cross-examination is brutal enough for victims.
Labor will also change the Evidence Act to stop barristers from using humiliating and invasive questioning techniques in court.
Because perpetrators should feel like the ones on trial, not victims.
New Australian-first offences to close loopholes
Research shows that women who have experienced family violence are far more likely to have attempted suicide than women who have not been abused.
But it’s difficult to hold perpetrators to account when they have clearly driven their victims to suicide.
If re-elected, Labor will legislate a new form of manslaughter to include where someone has taken their life due to family violence.
We will also create a new offence to cover when a perpetrator abandons a victim in medical need– another Australian first.
The tragic stories of Victorians Narelle Simmons and Belinda Jones tell us why.
Both women were abandoned by their abusive partners while in urgent medical need and died.
This offence responds to recommendations made by the Coroner.
Creating these new offences makes a difference
It means these crimes can be tracked – so the rate of women being killed by someone they know is laid bare.
It also stops perpetrators slipping through the cracks in the justice system and walking free.
When we made non-fatal strangulation a standalone offence, charges skyrocketed.
These reforms build on Labor's record.
This year, we've made coercive control a standalone offence and scrapped good character references.
Under Labor, Victoria put family violence on the national agenda and kept it there.
Now, we’re acting to put more perpetrators in jail, and keep them there.
Quotes attributable to Premier Ben Carroll
“I’m a tough-on-crime Premier – and that means being tough on family and sexual violence.”
“We must act on the violence that is killing a Victorian woman every two weeks.”
Quotes attributable to Attorney-General and Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Sonya Kilkenny
“We lead the nation in preventing family and sexual violence, but there’s always more to do – only Labor will do it.”
“These changes will hold perpetrators to account and set the standard for what Victorians will never tolerate.”
Quote attributable to Deputy Premier and Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams
“More than one in three Victorian women have experienced physical or sexual violence since age 15.”
