In response to a recommendation by the NSW Law Reform Commission (Report 148: Consent in relation to sexual offences), the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has led a program of research to investigate the manner in which the NSW criminal justice system and its processes are directly experienced by people who report a sexual offence.

KPMG, in partnership with RMIT University’s Centre for Innovative Justice, was engaged by BOCSAR to undertake a component of this program of research: an interview study to provide a detailed understanding of complainant and stakeholder experiences in the justice system. This work was guided by a Sexual Offences Research Advisory Panel, which included representatives from policy areas of government agencies, non-government organisations, and academia.

Importantly, this research enables complainants to describe to us, in their own words, the strengths and significant challenges present in the current NSW legal system for people who have experienced sexual violence. Given recent reforms in the area of sexual violence, these direct experiences may often contrast with the objectives or efforts of policymakers at a policy or legislative level. As such, these insights are vital to understand the experiences of those the system is intended to support. (From the summary). Record #8305