Taking significant steps towards repairing the irreparable: reparations for victims of Commonwealth sexual offences

Over the past two years I have acted in the first two ever applications made on behalf of victims of Commonwealth sexual offences for reparations under section 21B of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)(the Crimes Act). The relevant prosecutions are those of Geoffrey William Moyle in South Australia and Phillip John Cooper in Victoria. The respective victims are based in Cambodia and the Philippines. Notably, if these cases had arisen under Australian State law, the victims of these crimes would have been eligible to seek compensation under state criminal victims compensation schemes. However, such schemes arguably do not apply where an offender is prosecuted under Commonwealth law. The first of these applications, which was made on behalf of a Cambodian victim of Geoffrey Moyle, has prompted a review of the reparations scheme under section 21B of the Crimes Act by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

The cases raise a range of significant issues including:

1. The current disparity between the treatment of victims of sexual crimes against children under Australian State law, and victims of similar crimes which are committed under Commonwealth law. N.B. Commonwealth law applies to sexual offences committed outside of Australia by an Australian national;
2. The limitations of the current victims’ reparations regime under the Commonwealth Crimes Act and the need for reform of this regime;
3. The benefits to victims who are overseas of participating in criminal prosecutions of Australian nationals and in obtaining reparations or compensation in connection with such crimes;
4. Trauma informed approaches to working with victims of crime in seeking reparations and presenting victim impact statements in the context of prosecutions. In the case of Commonwealth crimes, where the offence is committed outside of Australia, this is likely to include consideration of complex factors including mental health, cultural background, childhood status, poverty, low levels of education or illiteracy and guardianship orders that have been made under a non-Australian law;
5. The prosecution of online child exploitation where a victim is located outside of Australia; and
6. The impact of the voluntary payment by an offender of reparations or compensation on sentencing and the policy implications of this.