The Victorian government has passed laws allowing families of dead sexual assault victims to publicly identify their loved ones.
The new legislation amends a draft introduced last year that was condemned by advocates for effectively gagging loved ones from naming victims. They risked prosecution if they did so.
However, some family members or loved ones will still be able to apply for a temporary suppression of victims' names, known as a victim privacy order (VPO).
But an amendment passed in the Upper House limited such privacy orders to sexual assault crimes only, removing a section that would have allowed the order to be applied to victims of other crimes in the future.
Reason Party Fiona Patten and shadow Attorney-General Ed O'Donohue successfully argued the section would have been an overreach, and any expansion of privacy orders should come back to Parliament to be specifically legislated.
An amendment that would have also made it mandatory for family members to be told when someone applied for a VPO was defeated. It will now only be mandatory to alert the media.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the laws would be reviewed in two years to see if they were fit for purpose, with input from advocates.
Privacy orders still have their detractors
While the new laws do not allow offenders and people acting on their behalf to apply for a suppression order, some victims were concerned family members could apply for the orders, for instance, to conceal their own failings and silence the rest of the family.
Eileen Culleton's sister Anne-Marie was raped and murdered in 1988.
Ms Culleton said while she was relieved the gag order had been removed, she was unhappy about the new privacy order.
Ms Culleton said family members who wanted to ensure their privacy should change their own name instead.
The government said it would be left to courts to determine whether a person was deemed appropriate to seek the order.
Silence allows sexual violence, advocate says
The controversial first draft of the laws last year was aimed at allowing living sexual assault survivors to identify themselves but it also prohibited the identification of dead victims, sparking widespread outrage and condemnation from the #LetHerSpeak and #letUsSpeak campaigns.
The revision of the legislation has been welcomed by advocates for sexual assault victims, including Chrissie Foster.
Her two daughters, Emma and Katie, were both sexually abused by a priest, and the trauma led to substance abuse. At 15, Katie was tragically hit by a car and left with permanent brain damage, and Emma later suffered a fatal overdose of prescription medication.
Earlier, Ms Foster said the first draft that would have required her to apply for a court order to use her daughters' names and experiences publicly "should never have happened".
"It's a freedom that we have, and have had. And suddenly, almost overnight, it was removed, it was taken away, and suddenly we had to get a court order, which takes time and money and effort," she said.
"There's been so much change in the past 25 years — that's from victims speaking out.
"What keeps paedophilia [and other sexual assault] alive is the secrecy surrounding it. And to then silence victims about what's happened to them is just crazy.
