Victim-survivors private counselling notes should not be allowed to be weaponised by their perpetrators

Today in Parliament, Abigail passed a motion urging the NSW Attorney General to legislate to protect sexual violence victim-survivors' confidential records from being subpoenaed and to ensure they have legal standing to protect their own information in court.

Abigail said:

I move:

(1) That this House notes that:

‘Don’t Subpoena Our Support: Keep Counselling Confidential’ is a campaign led by journalist and survivor advocate, Nina Funnell, in partnership with Unions NSW, Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, Marque Lawyers, along with other victim-survivors, advocates and experts;
the Keep Counselling Confidential petition has received over 12,000 signatures in the space of just two months, and calls on the NSW Attorney General and the Federal Attorney General to amend legislation to ensure sexual assault survivors can access counselling, safe in the knowledge that their notes and related files are completely protected;
on Wednesday 29 April 2026, the Victorian government announced a commitment to strengthen state laws regarding the use of sexual violence victim-survivors’ confidential communications, including by allowing victim-survivors to pre-record their testimony and improving protections for confidential records;
the Australian Law Reform Commission's (ALRC) 2025 inquiry into Justice Reponses to Sexual Violence concluded that the justice system is currently failing to support victim-survivors of sexual violence to seek justice or hold those who use sexual violence to account, and outlined a roadmap for reforming the justice system at both a federal and state and territory level, which included a recommendation that people affected by sexual assault have access to legal advice throughout the justice process and legal representation in court to protect access to personal, sensitive and confidential information;
on 25 March 2026, the NSW Legislative Council passed a motion by Abigail Boyd MLC which recognised calls for a national rollout of independent legal representation and called on the NSW government to take direct and immediate action to dismantle barriers in police and legal systems preventing victim-survivors of sexual violence from seeking justice, healing and recovery;
action from the NSW government to reform our legal systems to ensure victim-survivors of sexual violence can safely and equitably access justice has been slow and inadequate, with little progress made on advancing any targeted reforms in the last year despite making commitments to do so; and
victim-survivors of sexual violence continue to face significant obstacles across nearly every stage of the justice system, and are continuously retraumatised by outdated processes and laws which are frequently weaponised by perpetrators in an attempt to prevent victim-survivors from ever seeking justice.

(2) That this House affirms that all victim-survivors of sexual violence deserve to be able to access the justice system safely and with dignity, autonomy and confidentiality.

(3) That this House calls on the New South Wales Attorney General, the Hon. Michael Daley, MP, to progress reforms to legal processes for victim-survivors of sexual violence as a matter of priority, including:

legislative reform to better protect victim-survivors' confidential communications, including counselling, psychiatric and medical records, from being subpoenaed; and
progressing reforms so that people impacted by sexual violence and their legal representatives have better standing to appear in court in relation to personal, sensitive or confidential information, giving them a voice and agency throughout the justice process.

Motion agreed to.

Read the transcript in Hansard here.

26 May 2026

PUBLIC ENERGY FOR PUBLIC GOOD - SIGN THE PETITION!

Electricity is an essential service. But Labor and Liberal governments have sold off NSW’s energy assets and infrastructure, leaving us at the mercy of the private sector for our energy needs. The result has been soaring energy bills, with more and more people being forced into energy poverty.

A privatised energy system will never deliver a cheap and clean energy network - It’s time to take the power back.

As we transition to 100% renewable energy, we must learn from the mistakes of privatisation, ensure our energy assets are kept in public hands, and rein in the actions of private operators.

Communities across NSW have for too long been at the mercy of privatised power network operators who continue to put profit above people, acting recklessly and cutting corners without regard for community expectations.

Recent catastrophic power outages in regional NSW have made headlines for just this - in Broken Hill, the state’s only 100% privatised transmission network operator has failed to deliver a safe and secure energy network, leaving communities in the dark because of mismanagement and neglect in the pursuit of profit.

To build our case for bringing electricity back into public ownership, the Greens are calling for a public parliamentary inquiry into all NSW power network operators, their operation and corporate decision-making practices.

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Victim-survivors private counselling notes should not be allowed to be weaponised by their perpetrators

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