11.5. HEARING VICTIMS Victims and members of their families who appear at a public hearing are in unique situations, different from all others who appear. Their appearance can have particular significance for them and they have particular needs that must be anticipated by the inquiry and met. Appearing publicly before the inquiry can validate and affirm victims and their experiences. Telling the story of what they have experienced can be healing for them. Often the hearings will be the first occasion on which the victims have been able to state, before an official body what has happened to them, what the consequences have been for them and what they need to recover, as best as possible, from those consequences. Many victims may have tried previously to tell their stories and obtain redress but have been abused and rejected when doing so. They will want the inquiry to listen to their experiences objectively and compassionately, to recognise the injustice done to them and the harm they have suffered, and to acknowledge their status as victim and their entitlement to redress. Appearing in public before an official inquiry can be a frightening experience for some. It can be especially traumatic for victims who, through the process of telling what happened, will have to re-live the experience of violation. The inquiry team needs to prepare victims properly and sensitively for the hearings. It should provide advice on who will conduct the hearing, how it will be conducted, who else will be present, what might happen at the hearing and what the effect on them might be. It should ensure that nothing that occurs at the hearing comes as a shock to the victims. Simply appearing is difficult enough for a victim, without being surprised during the hearing by the nature of the proceedings or the way they are conducted or the presence of some individual or group. The team should discuss with each victim ways in which some measure of protection can be provided. Most inquiries can take evidence in confidence if it is necessary for the safety of the witness or to protect the privacy of a witness. In other cases, the inquiry can suppress the name of the witness and all information that does or could lead to identification of the witness. The inquiry team should ascertain in advance whether a witness does not want to give public evidence or wants to give public evidence but with the witness’s identity kept confidential. Victims and other witnesses should be able to express any fear or concern they have and then seek an appropriate assurance from the inquiry that enables them to give their evidence with the least risk to themselves and their safety. Some victims may also need a support person at the hearing and even afterwards. Some victims may have support persons whom they will want to bring to the public hearing with them. Others will ask the inquiry to provide them with support. The inquiry should be flexible in attempting to meet their needs. For example, it can permit victims to have the support person sitting with them while they give evidence. It should also plan to respond to victims’ needs as a result of giving evidence, for example, if the experience causes further trauma. Some victims may require psychological counselling. The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, conducted by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, anticipated this need when it was preparing public hearings in which separated children and family members were to give evidence. It arranged with counselling services for trained counsellors to be available at the hearings and afterwards for witnesses who needed and wanted their assistance. It also had a trained counsellor on the inquiry team to work with traumatised witnesses and also other team members who understandably found the inquiry experience harrowing. Chapter 11: Conduct public hearings | 51