Going through an investigation

When you contact ACT Policing, we will talk you through the process so that you can make a fully informed choice about how you wish to proceed with a police investigation. We can also discuss alternate options, including having the matter recorded but not investigated.

Your safety and wellbeing is very important. Police can assist in connecting you with support services, such as the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, to help you manage the trauma of sexual assault and assist in your recovery.

If you are reporting the sexual assault of a child, ACT Policing is obligated to report the incident to Children, Youth and Families.

Police will likely conduct an audio-video recorded interview, which will be your formal statement about what has happened (what you saw, heard and/or felt).

It involves an investigator asking open questions to assist you in recounting, as best as possible, the assault in detail. If you cannot remember all the information, or do not know the answers, this is okay.

Making a statement can often take several hours. You might want to get it all over and done with at once, or you might want to do it in several sessions over time - that is up to you.

We usually take your statement in a private room at the police station, but we can go to your home or another location where you feel comfortable.

During the statement, we will ask you lots of questions in order to collect as much information as possible.

Some questions might make you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. There is no need to feel this way - we are people, we are professionals, and this is our job. Nothing you say will embarrass or offend us, and it is important that we gather as much information about what happened to you.

Some questions might make you feel like we doubt you or judge you, but this is definitely not the case. We know that you are not responsible for what happened to you.

We may ask you about things like what you were wearing or what you were drinking because we need to know as much as possible about what happened to help us do our job. There is no excuse for sexual assault, no matter what you were wearing or how much you were drinking.

Making a statement could be healing, or it could be traumatic, or it could be a bit of both. Every single person has a different experience, and we will do everything we can to make it as safe and positive as possible.

You can have a support person with you if you want one, but it is best if that person is not a witness to the incident or who you have disclosed the incident to. We can also arrange a support person for you.

If you do not want to make a statement you do not have to, however a formal statement is required for a police investigation

We will investigate your case by gathering evidence. This may include:

• Obtaining witness statements;
• Collecting forensic evidence, such as clothing and bedding;
• Obtaining medical records, CCTV and phone records; and
• Approaching and interviewing the offender.

Once we have sufficient evidence, we may charge the offender and bring them before the Court.

If you don’t want us to charge the offender, we won’t. If you change your mind later, you can contact us, and we will resume the investigation.

Many types of evidence, like forensic evidence, CCTV, and even someone’s memory of what happened, will degrade or get lost over time. Even if you don’t want us to charge the offender, we would like to gather all the available evidence now and preserve it in case you change your mind in future.

Sexual assault is a serious crime and there is no time limit on reporting it or prosecuting it.

Not all investigations proceed to court. This does not mean we don't believe you. It simply means we do not have enough evidence to meet the required level for criminal prosecution. If this happens, we will talk to you about it and explain the reasons why.

The length of an investigation varies. The investigator in charge of your case will keep in contact with you and make sure you are up to date with the progress of the investigation every step of the way.

If the matter proceeds to Court:

• The investigator will talk to you about what to expect during the Court process
• The length of the Court process is different in every case for a range of reasons
• Some cases can take a long time to finalise at Court
• There will likely be a number of Court dates where you are not required to attend
• If your case proceeds to a trial, you may be required to attend Court while the trial is held and talk about what happened to you (the investigator will discuss protective measures that are available to you during the trial)
• We will ensure you have counselling and/or support through the Court process if you want it

All reports of sexual assault are handled with care. The alleged offender will not see the report during the investigation but it may be tendered in court as part of court proceedings.

ACT Policing want you to be as comfortable as possible during your experience with us.

For this reason, we encourage you to take up the services of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre who offer an impartial support person to accompany you while you speak to police.

Alternatively, you may bring your own support person such as a friend, family member or work colleague.

It is important to note that if your support person is a witness in the matter or someone you have disclosed the incident to, they are unable to be present during your statement with police.

We can also offer translation services to assist if required.

ACT Policing takes its privacy obligations seriously and all personal information collected to provide services to victims of sexual assault is handled in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). More information is available on our privacy policy page.