Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Strategy

Together the Office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime and the Department of Communities are leading the project to develop Western Australia’s first Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Strategy.
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The purpose of the Strategy is to improve outcomes for victim-survivors of sexual violence, focusing on primary prevention, support for recovery and holding perpetrators to account.

The Strategy will take a whole-of-government approach to preventing and addressing the impact of sexual violence in the community and will consider the full continuum of sexual violence, including sexual harassment, abuse and threats. It will also consider the needs of all victims – including those who are male, female and gender diverse.

The Strategy is being developed in conjunction with two other projects which will examine sexual offending laws and criminal justice processes in Western Australia.

Community consultation and engagement

Submissions are now closed. A state-wide consultation process was held on the draft Strategy. The findings from this consultation process are now being used to develop the final Strategy.

Draft Consultation Strategy (PDF, 566KB) Factsheet (PDF, 306KB)

For more information, contact the project team via email at Sexualviolencestrategy@justice.wa.gov.au or call 1800 428 873.

Consultative Forum

In November 2021, the Department of Justice, Department of Communities and Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing hosted a consultative forum to engage with organisations that work to address sexual violence in Western Australia. The purpose of the forum was to discuss consultation and community engagement for developing the strategy.

Sexual Violence Strategy Consultative Forum Background Paper (PDF, 573KB) Sexual Violence Strategy Consultative Forum Outcomes Report (PDF, 529KB)

A public consultation process is being developed based on the findings of the consultative forum. An announcement will be made when the consultation process opens.

Reference Group

A Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Strategy Reference Group has been established to guide the development of the Strategy.

The group is made up of people from both government and non-government organisations with expertise in the prevention of and response to sexual violence for diverse cohorts, alongside individuals with a lived experience of sexual violence. Nicole Lambert, Chief Executive Officer at Allambee Counselling and Vice-Chairperson of the National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence, has been appointed Independent Chair of the group.

Communique – Meeting 17 November 2023 (PDF, 116KB) Communique – Meeting 13 June 2023 (PDF, 122KB)Communique – Meeting 10 March 2023 (PDF, 113KB) Communique – Meeting 14 October 2022 (PDF, 139KB) Communique – Meeting 10 June 2022 (PDF, 122KB)

Contact

You can contact the Office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime via email at sexualviolencestrategy@justice.wa.gov.au or by phone on 1800 428 873.

Support

Reading about sexual violence can be upsetting, particularly for victim-survivors. If reading this web page is upsetting, please ask for support from a person you trust or contact one of the support services below:

  • 1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732
  • Women’s Domestic Violence Helpline (WA) 1800 007 339
  • Men’s Domestic Violence Helpline (WA) 1800 000 599
  • Crisis Care 1800 199 008
  • Lifeline Australia 13 11 14
  • Mensline Australia 1300 789 978.

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