A review into the way Victoria responds to stalking and harassment is accepting submissions, and victim-survivors are being urged to contribute.
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The Victorian Law Reform Commission inquiry will examine the effectiveness of stalking laws and intervention orders, current laws that deal with stalking, any barriers victims face in reporting stalking to police and cyberstalking.
The process will compare how stalking is dealt with for those in a family violence context and how it is dealt with in non-family violence related cases.
A key difference, according to a consultation paper for the review released on Thursday, is that victims in a family violence context cannot be cross-examined by their perpetrator, whereas no such provision for victims of stalking in non-family related stalking cases exists.
Family violence and sexual assault-related organisations are invited to submit to the review, but so are individual victim-survivors.
Derryn Hinch Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell welcomed the review, calling stalking an "insidious crime".
"We need to ensure perpetrators are swiftly identified and interventions are put in place to curb their behaviour much earlier to prevent further tragedies," she said.
"I hope this inquiry will put the needs of victims at the forefront and I encourage people to make a submission and share their views on what changes are necessary to improve community safety and hold offenders to account."
The review was put in motion following the murder of 23-year-old Melbourne woman Celeste Manno in 2020.
A consultation paper listing questions about potential reform was released on Thursday.
Among them is the question of electronic monitoring for those assessed to pose a high risk of ongoing stalking.
The paper defines stalking as a "set of behaviours that can cause harm to victims' mental and physical health".
"If not addressed, it can also escalate to include other types of serious offending... including serious violence and - tragically - homicide and suicide," the paper states.
Submissions to the review are open until August 5 and can be emailed to stalking@lawreform.vic.gov.au
An interim report from the review will be prepared by 31 December 2021 and a final report is due by 30 June 2022.
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