New Sexual Offence Expert Evidence Panel now accepting referrals

Queensland Courts’ Sexual Offence Expert Evidence Panel pilot is now accepting referrals in specified courts in Brisbane and Townsville in response to recommendations from the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce’s Hear her voice: Report 2 and recent legislative changes to introduce affirmative consent.

Initially Panel experts will be provided, at the request of a party, to give evidence as to the defendant’s cognitive or mental health impairment and its impact on a defendant’s ability to say or do something to affirm consent in the context of the mistake of fact defence.

Panel experts will be provided for sexual offence proceedings in the Brisbane and the Townsville Supreme and District Courts.

Practitioners can refer to the recorded information session held in Brisbane’s Banco Court on Wednesday 22 January 2025, in which His Honour Judge Michael Byrne KC was the guest speaker.

The Panel’s Program Team will hold a further information session for North Queensland practitioners and interested stakeholders, introduced by His Honour Judge John Coker, at the Townsville Supreme and District Courts at 4.00pm on Wednesday 19 February 2025. Book now to attend online or in person.

Detailed information about the Sexual Offence Expert Evidence Panel, including a referral form, is available on the Panel’s webpage.