Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Thank you very much Madam Chair. My question to the member is in relation to Part 1 clause 7A and there's several new sections in there that are really in and around the notification to the victim. This is a part of the bill that hasn't been discussed so much. We focused a lot on that definition and getting that balance between the needs of victims and the needs of the criminal justice system but what we haven't discussed—and my question to the member of the likely impacts of these changes—is in and around the Justice Committee examining section 50 of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act which provides that the Minister of Health may grant leave of absence with a special patient from a hospital into the community quite often subject to conditions specified in the section. So we decided that the bill should require that victims of persons found insane be notified when the special patient is being considered for leave of absence. And I know there were specific examples provided by the member herself and also by submitters to the committee in and around some really negative circumstances where there had been victims of crime who then without purpose or planning had bumped into the alleged or the offender in particular instances and the perverse circumstances and the negative impacts upon the victim that that might have. So we decided the bill should require that victims of persons found insane be notified when a special patient is being considered for leave of absence. This is really important. So this would in the committee's view prepare the victim for the possibility of the patient getting greater autonomy or being released into the community. So the need was highlighted as I said through several submitters who raised this and who noted that victims felt like they were not even considered to be relevant to this process as it stood and could even be surprised to find out retroactively that the offender had been in fact granted leave and even granted leave in close proximity to the residence of the victim and their family.So the fact is that the victim is now provided through this course of legislation with the right to submit their view to the Minister when the offender is being considered for a leave of absence. So alongside this amendment in this section there is also the view that the victim has the right to make a submission when the offender is being considered for leave of absence. And I think this is a really important change that the committee has taken through. So I'm interested to hear the member's views in terms of the impacts upon this for victims' rights. When the committee looked into this area—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order! Can I just ask the member to come back to Part 1.GINNY ANDERSEN: Sure sure. Part 1 is rights for victims under clause 7A new section 33C: the Right of victims to make submissions on proposed change of status" and that's on page 1 of the bill in Part 1. So that is covered in Part 1.So in doing so the intent is to give victims a voice where they are currently being silenced and to give them the opportunity to bring to the attention of those making the decision any considerations that might help them apply where practical leave conditions that minimise the chances of a person found insane and the victim coming into contact which could have some quite awful experiences for that victim to be then re-victimised.So it's important to note that the intent of this change is not to impose on the clinical decision making in this process but it is really to provide greater transparency in the system and also for those people who have been impacted upon the crime to be kept abreast of what changes are happening. It goes back to that key point made right at the beginning of this debate: that trying to get a good coincidence—the talking points between the criminal justice system and the mental health system to make sure that where there is an overlap there that there's an ability for those two systems to interact in a way that takes into account the needs of the offender who may have ongoing mental health treatment needs within the health system but also the rights of the victim who needs to be protected through the criminal justice process.So I'm really interested to hear from the member in charge of the bill how some of those more fundamental changes in terms of victim notification and also giving the victim the right to submit their view to the Minister will impact in the wider ambit of improving the rights of victims through the criminal justice process."