Draft charter of victims rights

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, the Hon. Natasha Fyles MLA is intending to issue a new Charter of Victims Rights for the Northern Territory.

Pursuant to section 30 of the Victims of Crime Rights and Services Act, the Minister may issue a Charter of Victims Rights to establish principles about the way in which victims are to be treated in the justice system. The Charter of Victims Rights may also provide for any other matters relevant to the rights of victims.

The current Charter of Victims Rights was issued some time ago and is now out of date. Accordingly, the Minister is intending to issue a new Charter of Victims’ Rights (the new Charter), which can be accessed from the link below.

Draft Charter of Victims Rights PDF (182.2 KB) -- Version updated 22 October 2018.

The new Charter was substantially prepared by the Crime Victims Advisory Committee, following its review of the current Charter in 2017. The new Charter identifies victims’ rights within the justice system and conveys to all Government Agencies engaged with victims, the manner in which their individual services and contact with victims must be provided.

Prior to the new Charter being issued, the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice is encouraging Government Agencies to consider how they will comply with the new Charter, and to contact the officer below if they have any questions or concerns about compliance.

The Department of the Attorney-General and Justice is also seeking comments from Government Agencies, non-government organisations, and the general public, about the content, structure or language of the new Charter.

Submissions or comments can be as short or as informal as an email or letter, or can be a more substantial document. They also do not have to address all aspects of the new Charter.

Making a comment

Closing date for comments is COB Thursday 6 December 2018.

Electronic copies of comments are preferred. Please send your comments to Policy.AGD@nt.gov.au or

Postal:
Director, Legal Policy
Department of the Attorney-General and Justice
GPO Box 1722
DARWIN  NT 0801

Legal Policy contact officer:
Ms Alexandra Lillis
P: 08 8935 7652

Confidentiality of comments

Any feedback or comment received by the Department will be treated as a public document unless clearly marked as ‘confidential’. In the absence of such a clear indication, the Department will treat the feedback or comment as non-confidential. Non-confidential feedback or comments may be made publicly available and published on the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice website. The Department may also draw upon contents of the feedback or comments and quote from them or refer to them in reports, which may be made publicly available.