Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I support the amendment. As Senator Regan said, it is very clearcut and simply seeks to put into statutory form the need for the court to be conscious that the victim has confirmed his or her awareness of the risk that disclosing the identity of the offender may result in disclosing the identity of the victim. The practice is that anonymity should remain protected, even where the victim informs the court that it is his or her wish that the identity of the offender be publicly disclosed. We have seen this happen in a number of cases. It is an important amendment.