'It's diabolical': Hopes court reform blueprint will ease victim trauma

Family violence victims hope new blueprint will reduce 'diabolical' Tasmanian court backlogs In short: Tasmania has some of the nation's longest court delays, which advocates say can be traumatic for victim-survivors of family violence. A new report highlights the severity of the backlogs plaguing Tasmania's court system. What's next? The government has vowed to take action on 19 of the report's 20 recommendations to help cull the backlog, including IT improvements for courts and incentives for early guilty pleas. Mary* has had her life on hold for more than two years, and there is "no clear end in sight". The Tasmanian woman, whom the ABC is not naming to protect her identity, has been waiting for family violence charges against her former partner to progress through the courts. "I think that it's going to continue to cascade and it's probably going to be closer to a three-year mark before we even get an answer," she said. "The word 'frustrating' doesn't even cut it … it's diabolical." Across Tasmania, victims of crimes and alleged crimes are watching on as criminal charges drag through the courts for years. The emotional toll can be significant. "As a person who is sitting on the edge, waiting for the case to continue, you are put in the dark," Mary said. A new report into Tasmania's court backlog by barrister Lloyd Babb SC portrays a justice system that is among the most inefficient in the nation. But it also laid out a blueprint for reform. Senior Tasmanian lawyers and family violence support groups have called for immediate action. 'Trauma' from court process According to Productivity Commission data included in the Babb report, matters appear an average of 14 times before the Tasmanian Supreme Court before they are resolved. This is the highest rate in Australia and a 30 per cent increase from a decade ago. In the Magistrates Court, the number of cases finalised within 12 months has dropped from 84 per cent to 72 per cent since 2015. Engender Equality chief executive Alina Thomas said the state's court system was failing many victim-survivors of family violence. "If we are going to have criminal justice sanctions for these particular behaviours, the system that then responds to victim-survivors has to be designed in their best interest," she said. "It comes to the day and then it's adjourned, and it's adjourned again … this happens a lot." Ms Thomas said the court process could be "another layer of trauma" for family violence victims. "Some of our really seasoned counsellors say that the counselling that we provide for victim-survivors is as much for the process of going through court as it is for the violence that they've experienced," she said. 'Dysfunctional' evidence disclosure practices The Tasmanian government has agreed either fully, or in principle, to 19 of the 20 recommendations included in the Babb report. These include incentives for early guilty pleas, information technology improvements for the courts, and an agreed early disclosure protocol. The Babb report found evidence disclosure practices in Tasmania were "dysfunctional". "There is general agreement that current disclosure problems in Tasmania are the central factor limiting effectiveness and efficiency in the criminal justice system,"the report said. Having recently described the court backlog as reaching "crisis point", Law Society of Tasmania president Amelia Higgs said the Babb report was a road map for reform. "We have all the material and information available to us now to know what the problems are, how they can be tackled and what resources and funding are needed to make meaningful change," she said. Tasmania's Attorney-General, Guy Barnett, said work would "begin immediately" to implement the reforms proposed. For Mary, change needs to happen sooner rather than later. "What happens behind closed doors is very unacceptable, and I'm very thankful for Tasmania Police to be helping me, in regard to all of this," she said. "But the court system itself is letting everyone down."