The Victims’ Commissioner

Queensland’s first Victims’ Commissioner

Ms Beck O’Connor is the Victims’ Commissioner for Queensland. Beck’s term is for 5 years, from Monday 29 July 2024.

A message from Beck

I am driven by the belief that everyone deserves a life free from violence and fear.

I serve as Queensland’s Victims’ Commissioner, to ensure our systems and services not only meet, but anticipate the needs of victims. That we are true participants in a justice process we can trust, with support and resources we need to cope, recover and heal. This is trauma informed.

I am committed to creating change that is clear, courageous, and promotes the rights of all individuals impacted by crime.

Through the work of several inquiries, a spotlight has been shone on the criminal justice systems’ failure to meet the needs of victims.

As a society, we now understand that those failures are more common for women, children and young people, people with disability, older people, migrant and refugee people and the LGBTQIA+ community. We know about the disproportionate victimisation and criminalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly women and girls. I feel strongly that better justice and safety outcomes will happen if we take time to listen and learn from each other and when we embed culture and ancient knowledge into broad social change efforts.

I am working, with the support of my office, to identify unintentional barriers within the justice and support system responses, while recognising the complexities and long-term nature of this work. I openly invite collaboration and partnership with policy makers, government agencies, service providers, community and spiritual leaders to broaden what is working well and address what is not. Importantly, while being informed by victim-survivors is critical, these are not their problems to fix.

The word ‘victim’ is central to my role, but I want to highlight that a victim, survivor, related victim and/or witness to a crime is a person, many of whom experience incomprehensible trauma, violation and hurt. Every person has a different experience and it’s important that the individuality of someone dealing with hurt is not lost. I am committed to ensuring your voices and experiences are heard and respected.

Warm regards,

Beck

Beck’s experience

Beck’s extensive experience spans health, mental health, child protection, and social and disability support. She has a multi-sector and intersectional understanding of some of the challenges that victims of crime face.

As Queensland’s first Victims’ Commissioner, Beck supports the recovery, justice and dignity of all people impacted by crime, through strong partnerships with community groups, government agencies and cultural leaders.