Friday VicPol Reform Idea #3

The Victim Update Guarantee

Reporting a crime should not feel like dropping information into a black hole.

Victoria should introduce a Victim Update Guarantee requiring police to provide meaningful, scheduled updates after a crime is reported—even when there has been no major breakthrough.

The verified problem

Victoria’s official victim-information service says victims can ask police about an investigation. It also provides a helpline and information about support, financial assistance and the justice process. Victims of Crime Victoria

The Victims of Crime Commissioner promotes compliance with Victoria’s Victims’ Charter and accepts complaints about mistreatment by police and other justice agencies. Victims of Crime Commissioner

However, the Commissioner’s 2023–24 annual report recorded 75% of surveyed victims saying they had not been told about their Victims’ Charter rights by police, prosecutors or victim services. The Commissioner subsequently completed a major review of the Charter in October 2025.

That suggests the problem is not necessarily an absence of rights—it is that rights and information are not always reaching people consistently.

The proposed reform

Every identifiable victim who reports a crime should receive:

An immediate report confirmation and reference number

The investigating unit’s contact details

A plain-language explanation of their rights

An initial update within seven days

Further updates at agreed intervals—normally every 30 days

Immediate notification of significant developments

A clear explanation when an investigation is suspended or closed

Information about review, complaint and support options

The victim could choose SMS, email, telephone, letter or a secure online portal.

They could also choose less contact, nominate a support person or request a safe communication method.

What counts as an update?

An update does not need to reveal confidential tactics or jeopardise an investigation.

It could simply say:

The report has been allocated for investigation

CCTV or witness enquiries are being conducted

Evidence is awaiting forensic examination

A suspect has been interviewed

No suspect has currently been identified

The investigation remains active but no significant development has occurred

The matter has been suspended pending new evidence

Charges have been filed

The accused has been granted bail

The matter has been referred to another agency

Even “there is no new development, but your case remains open” is better than silence.

A traffic-light victim portal

A secure portal could show a limited status:

Blue — Received: the report is registered.

Amber — Active: enquiries are underway.

Purple — External process: waiting for forensic, court or partner-agency action.

Grey — Suspended: no current investigative pathway, but new evidence can reactivate it.

Green — Court action: charges or proceedings have commenced.

Closed — Finalised: accompanied by a plain-language reason.

The portal would not display suspects’ private information, tactical details or evidence that could prejudice proceedings.

Why it would help police too

Victims naturally telephone or visit stations when they hear nothing.

A structured update system could reduce repeated enquiries by automatically providing basic status information. It would also create a documented communication history, protecting officers from disputes about whether information was provided.

Supervisors could identify cases with overdue contact instead of discovering communication failures after a complaint is made.

Expected benefits

Victims feel acknowledged rather than forgotten

Greater understanding of how investigations actually work

Earlier referrals to support and financial-assistance services

Fewer repeat calls asking for basic status information

Better compliance with the Victims’ Charter

Clearer accountability when cases stall

Improved trust even when police cannot solve the crime

Less reliance on individual officers remembering every update manually

Risks and safeguards

Risk: It creates more paperwork for already stretched investigators.

Safeguard: automate routine notifications from existing case-management events and allow support staff to handle non-sensitive updates.

Risk: Updates could compromise an investigation.

Safeguard: use approved status categories and require investigator approval before disclosing sensitive developments.

Risk: Messages could reach an offender in family-violence cases.

Safeguard: record safe-contact instructions at the first report and allow silent, coded or support-person communications.

Risk: Automated updates may feel cold.

Safeguard: serious violence, sexual offences, family violence, death and major case closures should receive personal contact from a trained officer or victim liaison specialist.

Risk: Police cannot promise that every crime will be solved.

Safeguard: the guarantee concerns communication—not a guaranteed investigative outcome.

Practical implementation

1. Consult victims, frontline police, investigators and support organisations.

2. Establish minimum update standards for different crime categories.

3. Add automated reminders and approved messages to existing police systems.

4. Pilot the system in one metropolitan and one regional police division.

5. Assign victim-liaison support staff to overdue or complex cases.

6. Measure victim satisfaction, repeated enquiries, officer workload and Charter complaints.

7. Publish de-identified compliance figures by region.

8. Expand statewide after an independent evaluation.

Exact costs would require technical assessment, but much of the system could build upon existing report numbers, case-management records and government victim-support services.

Public-facing pitch

> Police cannot promise that every crime will be solved. They can promise that victims will not be forgotten. One report, one contact pathway and regular updates until the matter is properly finalised.