Speaking on a bill that would provide increased support for victims and survivors of sexual assaults, Ms Sheed asked Attorney-General to consider the same issues in the regions.
“We too have all these issues,” she said.
“We have a centre against sexual assault in Shepparton which does important work along with our courts, lawyers, legal aid — all these organisations often work with and are very close to victims of crime as they go through their processes.”
Ms Sheed said she would support the bill because it gave more rights to victims and allowed them to speak out.
“There are many victim-survivors who are adamant that they want to speak of their experiences, and similarly there are others who fiercely want to protect their right to privacy,” she said.
“Sexual assault victims have suffered extreme trauma, and so often they are haunted by the experiences that come with them for the rest of their lives.”
Ms Sheed said the bill also strengthened victims of crime legislation.
“One of the complaints I have heard just on radio is that the need to go to court can be prohibitive in terms of the costs of lawyering up, in a sense,” she said.
“I do think that this is an area where a victim’s right to go to court should be publicly funded. Now, we do have legal aid and we do have victims of crime services.
“If that is not the case, I think it is one area where this is not a case of means-testing people.
“It is a case of people who have suffered greatly who are going to have to go through the trauma and who need support and assistance — and often legal assistance — to do that.
“I think we should look hard at providing a fund to enable that to happen as part of any further amendments going forward.”
Ms Sheed voted against an amendment moved by the Opposition that proposed to delay passing the bill until there was more consultation on the proposed changes.
The bill was passed 49-23 by the Legislative Assembly and needs to be passed by the Legislative Council before coming into law.
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