Intermediaries

ACT Intermediary Program

Intermediaries help witnesses to communicate their best evidence.

Intermediaries are officers of the court who have undertaken rigorous training in order to become accredited. Intermediaries effectively facilitate communication between:

  • witnesses and police; and
  • witnesses, lawyers and others at court during the criminal trial process.

Intermediaries are often drawn from allied health professions including Speech Pathology, Social Work, Psychology and Occupational Therapy. Intermediaries are experienced facilitating communication of witnesses with:

  • language delays
  • mental health issues
  • learning disabilities
  • cognitive issues
  • autism
  • ADHD
  • trauma
  • age related

and other types of communication difficulties.

Intermediaries can assist people of all ages. Intermediaries have assisted the very young (under four years of age) to communicate their evidence, as well as the very elderly (over 90 years of age).

The role of the intermediary is to carefully assess the communication needs of the witness and inform police and the court of the best ways to communicate, so the witness can provide their best evidence.

The intermediary does this by conducting a Communication Assessment of the witness’ communication needs at two separate stages of the process:

  • immediately prior to the witnesses’ interview with police (a quite short assessment is conducted); and
  • prior to the witnesses’ attendance at court (a more comprehensive assessment is conducted).

After undertaking the Communication Assessment and advising the police and court about communication with the witness, the intermediary may remain involved.  The intermediary may be present during the police interview and may also be present at the court hearing, so the intermediary can immediately assist there is a breakdown in communication.

It is important to note that the witness intermediary is not a support person. (Other people are able to provide support to witnesses – see  Victim Support)

The intermediary is an impartial participant in the process who is focused on helping the effective communication of evidence.

As impartial officers of the court subject to laws governing their conduct, intermediaries are prohibited from discussing the content of the evidence. Intermediaries do not discuss the merits of a witness’ case and intermediaries are not informed of case outcomes, as this information is not relevant to their role.

Intermediary Procedural Guidance Manual

​To ensure role transparency and clarity, intermediaries adhere to a Procedural Guidance Manual. The Procedural Guidance Manual (PDF 2MB) has been developed in conjunction with ACT criminal justice stakeholders and incorporates important intermediary procedure, some of which is informed by established intermediary practices in other Australian jurisdictions.

The manual is an ‘easy reference guide’ for ACT intermediaries regarding key aspects of their role, including professional conduct they must adhere to and processes they must follow.

The manual is updated regularly to ensure currency and reflect practice changes. Feedback regarding manual content is continuously sought from criminal justice stakeholders engaged with the Intermediary Program.

Intermediary Program Evaluation Report

In 2022, academics from the University of Sydney outlined a framework for the ACT Intermediary Program, which would form the basis of a tender process seeking an independent outcome evaluation.

After a competitive tender process in 2023, a team from the University of Sydney were selected as the successful providers and undertook rigorous and diligent research to inform an independent outcome evaluation of the ACT Intermediary Program. The research period covered August 2023 – March 2025.

The report contains feedback from all stakeholders, including vulnerable witnesses, and demonstrates the positive impact the program has had in the Territory since commencing in 2020.

The final report is now available to access here (PDF 1.9MB).

If there are any questions about the report, please email the program: intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au.

Multijurisdictional Court Guide

The ACT Supreme Court published Practice Direction 3 of 2025 regarding the ‘Appointment of Witness Intermediaries’ in July 2025.

A Multijurisdictional Court Guide for the ACT Intermediary Program (PDF 224KB) has been developed to support the application of this direction for legal practitioners.

Any questions about this guide are welcome and can be directed to the Program by emailing: intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au.

Fact sheets

Information for Families (PDF 6MB)
Procedural Guidance Manual (PDF 2MB)

More information

ACT Legislation
The Advocate’s Gateway

How do I contact the team for more information?

The ACT Intermediary Program Team can be contacted as follows:
Phone: 02 6205 2222
Text: 0434 855 030
Email: intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au
Mail: GPO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2601

Background to the ACT Intermediary Program

In 2018, the ACT Government responded to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. One of the commission’s findings was that vulnerable witnesses, such as children in sexual abuse cases, face extraordinarily significant communication barriers when giving evidence. The commission recommended that states and territories establish intermediary schemes to assist vulnerable witnesses to communicate their evidence.

The ACT Government passed legislation and allocated funding in its 2019-20 budget to establish the Intermediary Program. In January 2020, the program began actively providing intermediaries to assist police and courts’ engagement with vulnerable witnesses in criminal matters.

How to become an ACT Panel Intermediary

We work with skilled professionals as part of a panel of intermediaries.

The ACT Intermediary Program, which commenced on 31 January 2020, is based in the Victim of Crime Commissioner’s team within the ACT Human Rights Commission. Intermediaries are accredited professionals and independent officers of the court.

They provide specialised advice at police investigative interviews, to lawyers and at court to facilitate the giving of evidence by vulnerable witnesses. The Program mainly receives requests for intermediaries for matters involving child complainants in sexual assault and child witnesses in homicide matters, however, this has grown to include all offence types and other demographics, including adults with disabilities and other communication difficulties.

The Program draws on the expertise of a team of in-house intermediaries to meet the demand of referrals received during business hours but has also established an external ‘panel’ of intermediaries to meet demand outside of these hours. The external panel of intermediaries primarily attends police engagements which occur ‘after hours’ and on weekends and public holidays, given it operates 24/7. Occasionally, where there is no in-house capacity, the Program will seek the availability of this external panel to attend during business hours.

We are currently recruiting for more panel intermediaries, with applications closing at 5PM on Friday 15 May 2026. You can apply by filling out an application form and emailing it to intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au. You can also apply via Ethical Jobs.

Prior to being selected as a panel intermediary, applicants must attend and successfully complete two days of training and assessment to receive accreditation.

For more information on the role and the requirements to apply, please read the EOI for ACT Panel Intermediaries April 2026, and the information contained in the Application Pack 2026.

If you have any questions about this or the Program generally, please contact 0434 855 030 or email intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au.