This report summarises current knowledge about sexual violence in Australia, including existing data on sexual offenders; some of the programs aimed at preventing sexual violence and treating both sexual violence victims and offenders; and areas where sexual violence policies and programs could be improved. The report also considers the consequences of sexual violence, including physical, social, economic and psychological effects. It considers the long term and special effects that the experience of sexual violence can have on different victims, including children, males, Indigenous Australians, people from non English speaking backgrounds, and the intellectually disabled.

South Australian Criminal Law and Procedure is the first critical work on the criminal law and process of South Australia. The first edition of this text concentrated on the substantive criminal law. This second edition includes four chapters on the principles and laws of criminal process. Seventeen chapters review and critically evaluate the theory and doctrines of criminal law in South Australia, including criminal law philosophy, legislative interpretation, major categories of common law and statutory offences and defences, policing and trial process and post-conviction appellate procedures. The text includes review and analysis, case studies and exercises and critical assessment of the formulation, development, rationale and status of South Australian criminal law and procedure. Features Tailored for the courses taught at the three South Australian universities Pedagogical features include: objectives, key reading lists, cases & legislation Advanced pedagogy: Critical analysis and writings Related Titles Braun & Hemming, LexisNexis Questions & Answers - Criminal Procedure, 2016Hickie & Lloyd, LexisNexis Questions & Answers - Criminal Law for Common Law States, 2nd ed, 2015

Drawing on extensive research from Australia, this book examines the experiences of sexual offence victims who submit a victim impact statement. Victim impact statements are used in sentencing to outline the harm caused to victims. There has been little research on the impact statement experiences of sexual offence victims. This book fills this gap, examining the perspectives of six adult female victims and 15 justice professionals in Australia. This is supplemented by analysis of 100 sentencing remarks, revealing how courts use such statements in practice. This book examines victims’ experiences of preparing and submitting statements, justice professionals’ experiences of working with victims to submit statements, and the judicial use of impact statements in sentencing. It identifies an overarching lack of clarity around the purpose of impact statements, which affects the information that can be included and the way they can be used by the court. It consequently explore issues associated with balancing the expressive and instrumental purposes of such statements, and the challenges in communication between professionals and victims of crime. The findings highlight several issues with the operation of impact statement regimes. Based on these findings, the book makes recommendations to clarify such regimes, to improve communication between justice professionals and victims of crime, and to enhance the therapeutic goals of such statements. An accessible and compelling read, this book is essential reading for all those engaged with victimology, sentencing, and sexual violence.