Overview
- Premier Ben Carroll and Attorney‑General Sonya Kilkenny announced the policy on Tuesday, committing to amend the Open Courts Act next parliamentary term to stop convicted rapists using suppression orders to conceal their names.
- The government also introduced a bill to strengthen victim protections that includes a standalone coercive‑control offence and a ban on ‘good character’ references in sentencing.
- The coercive‑control offence is scheduled to commence in March 2028 to allow an advisory group to design and consult on how it will operate.
- Kilkenny has tasked the Department of Justice and Community Safety with reviewing the use and duration of interim suppression orders and other loopholes by consulting courts, lawyers and media organisations.
- Pressure for change grew after 2025 cases that used mental‑health arguments to secure long suppression orders and a 2013 wording change to the Open Courts Act that broadened grounds for suppression, and media groups say the announced measures fall short of the wider open‑justice reforms they want.