FOREWORD
The South Australian Disability Justice Plan (2014- 2017) brought together significant changes to the law and recommended changes and improvements to the way criminal justice personnel, at all stages, take evidence from people with complex communication needs (CCN).
Funded by the Attorney General’s Department (SA), Uniting Communities has been proud to provide the Communication Partner Service from July 2016 to February 2020. The Service led the way in South Australia, providing highly skilled and independent volunteers to facilitate the effective communication of people with CCN in criminal justice proceedings.
Communication challenges are not always visible. 1.2 million Australians have some level of communication disability, ranging from those who function without difficulty every day but who use a communication aid, to those who cannot understand or be understood at all1
.
An Australian study found that adults with an intellectual disability were more than twice as likely to be victims of personal crimes as the general adult population, and 10.7 times more likely to be victims of sexual assault in particular2
.
1Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2015 2Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2008
The Statutes Amendment (Vulnerable Witnesses) Act 2015 (SA) provided the statutory basis for the establishment of the Communication Partner Service with requirements to ensure the criminal justice system is accessible and responsive to individuals with CCN, including but not limited to, using communication assistance whenever necessary.
The Service developed an extensive toolkit of strategies and resources to assist clients to understand the criminal justice process and provide their best evidence. This booklet is a distillation of the core principles and strategies for providing communication assistance to the most vulnerable people in our society – people with communication needs who are victims, witnesses, suspects or defendants.
We consider this information to be an important legacy of the valuable work contributed by the Service. It is our hope that you will find this a practical resource in your work with people with communication needs in criminal justice interviews, meetings and in court.
Simon Schrapel Chief Executive, Uniting Communities
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