Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to send a message to Brittany Higgins: you have shown enormous courage over the last week and over the last two years. Your interview on Monday night was both moving and deeply impressive. You should hold your head high. Your bravery will give other women courage and make this a safer workplace for all. Speaking about a crime that happened to you shouldn't require bravery, but, sadly, for survivors of sexual assault, it still does. You run the risk of being targeted and smeared. Some people will still question where you were, what you were wearing, what you had to drink. Is it any wonder that so many of these crimes go unreported? Only a fraction, an estimated one in 10, are reported to police. And, despite the best efforts of police, only a fraction of those proceed to court, and only a fraction of those obtain a conviction. And, if the perpetrator has an expensive barrister, well, the chances go down even further. In New South Wales, of the crimes reported in 2017, about one in ten resulted in a guilty conviction. No-one should have to choose between seeking justice and keeping their job. No victim of crime should ever feel as though they are the one on trial. Sadly, too often, for survivors of sexual assault, it's them who pay the price, not the perpetrator. For the one in five Australian women who will be a victim of sexual assault, we must do much better.