13 March 2024
The ACT Intermediary Program has expanded its services to vulnerable accused. The ACT is the first Australian jurisdiction to expand intermediary services to accused persons, with the initial cohort being children and young people 18 years and younger accused of sexual offence and homicide matters.
Intermediaries will be available for ACT Policing suspect interviews, lawyer engagements with clients and for matters before the court where the accused chooses to give evidence.
“An accused person may have vulnerabilities because of learning disabilities, behavioural issues (such as ADHD, ODD and Autism Spectrum Disorder), mental health issues, trauma or simply due to the young age of the person,” said Director of the ACT Intermediary Program Laura Cilesio.
“However, a young person’s communication issues do not need to be diagnosed for us to work with the accused.”
Intermediaries are specially skilled and trained professionals who assess the communication needs of vulnerable witnesses, and now vulnerable accused, and make recommendations to police, lawyers and court on adjustments to support the communication of these people.
Since commencement in 2020, the program has assisted the communication of vulnerable witnesses in over 1,000 police engagements and nearly 200 court matters.
The program carefully triages all matters it receives to ensure the allocated intermediary is suitably skilled to meet the needs of the vulnerable person.
The program will be offering training opportunities for relevant criminal justice stakeholders in the coming months, and an updated procedural guidance manual (PGM) will be available on the website soon.
For more information or to enquire about intermediary services, phone 0434 855 030 or email intermediaryprogram@act.gov.au