Thread by @drlouisehansen

I’m going to make a series of threads on a QLD Intermediary Scheme that begins today. A pilot program in Brisbane and Cairns to assist in communicating with witnesses with communication difficulties in child sexual abuse matters. It includes Trauma Informed Care: #HealingTrauma

QLD Intermediary Scheme: “In its Criminal Justice Report (2017), the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (‘Royal Commission’) recommended intermediary schemes be established in all Australian states and territories to assist in communicating with

witnesses with communication difficulties in child sexual abuse matters. The Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) responded to these recommendations by establishing the Queensland Intermediary Scheme (QIS) to commence in Brisbane & Cairns 5 July 2021 as two-year

pilot program. The insertion of Division 4C into the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld)2 provides the framework in which the scheme operates. These legislative amendments to the Evidence Act commence on 5 July 2021.

The Queensland Intermediary Scheme (QIS) Pilot Program provides a service for prosecution witnesses with communication difficulties in child sexual offence investigations and prosecutions.

The scheme aims to increase access to justice for vulnerable witnesses by reducing trauma, improving the quality of evidence, and giving police officers, the legal community, and courts a better understanding of the needs of vulnerable witnesses.

Significantly, the scheme will reinforce the importance of effectively and respectfully responding to child sexual offence allegations from some of the most vulnerable of our society.

Who is eligible? The Queensland Intermediary Scheme applies to any prosecution witness in a child sexual offence investigation or prosecution. Section 21AZL(1) of the Evidence Act 1977 defines the following four categories of witnesses who are eligible for an intermediary.”