Australia: Overhaul of suppression order laws could see sex offenders identified

[theage.com.au]

The identity of some of the most dangerous sex offenders could be revealed under reforms to the state’s suppression order laws being considered by the Victorian government.

An independent review of Victoria’s Open Courts Act has recommended that courts should be restricted from making suppression orders concealing the identity or whereabouts of sex offenders living in the community under supervision.

Safety of the individuals would still need to be considered, it said.

The Victorian government has given its support “in full or in principle” to 17 of the 18 recommendations, and is still considering one.

Between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016, Victorian courts and tribunals made1594 suppression orders.

The review found that courts and tribunals made relatively few suppression orders in comparison to their overall caseloads, but further work was needed to ensure future orders were clearer and made only when necessary.

It recommended a range of improvements to existing suppression laws, including:

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I’ve always wondered how long it would be before a country other than the US publicized its sex offender registry. It’s pretty remarkable that we’re the only country to publicize sex offenders so far. Considering that 7 other countries have sex offender registries, and they’ve usually had the registries for a pretty long time. (Since about 2000-2004.) Plus they already have an example of a country that publicizes sex offenders.

In Canada some conservatives are calling to publicize the most dangerous sex offenders. Nobody’s calling to publicize the whole list. At least yet.

Of course, a small amount of public access to the registry could lead to a larger amount of public access to the registry. If Canada publicizes 2% of sex offenders, or Australia passes this ban on “suppression orders”, that would probably prove to be step 1 toward publicizing the entire list online. Within 5 years, maybe 7 at the most.