Annual Report 2012-2013 page 22

During the year the WAS attended interagency forums with external services and agencies (government and non-government) in order to develop and implement closer and more collaborative working relationships.

Victim Impact Statements

There has been a marked increase in assistance provided to clients in the preparation of Victim Impact Statements (VIS). Prosecutors were pro-active in promoting the uses of VIS to victims and the Courts. The WAS reviewed common issues encountered in assisting clients preparing and presenting VIS in court, and reinforced the emphasis on clients preparing the statements in their own words, individually articulating the impact of offences on themselves.

WAS Caseload

A breakdown of all matters dealt with in the reporting period is as follows:

The WAS caseload statistics reflect staffing challenges within the WAS. The demands for WAS services over the financial year appear to have remained stable, however given the staffing issues there were a number of matters in which the WAS lacked the capacity to become involved.

The WAS Bi-annual Conference

The bi-annual WAS Conference, held in Hobart on 25 – 27 February 2013, was attended by both Witness Assistants. It provided an opportunity for an exchange of information and ideas and networking with witness assistants from other jurisdictions. Although a smaller jurisdiction than most, the WAS in the ACT is at least on par with other jurisdictions in their work with clients.

Supporting multiple complainants of one offender

The WAS experienced a number of cases involving multiple victims of an individual offender. This was an especially busy time due to the amount of contact that was made with each client each time the matter appeared in Court. There was often urgency, as it was important for a client to be informed of the progress of a matter before it appeared in the media. In one matter, this included making contact with eight individual people.