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BOSCAR / Law Reform Commission error summary timeline
Date Action
18/11/20 Law Reform Commission (LRC) Report 148 - Consent in relation to sexual offences - was tabled in Parliament
24/3/21 Greg Andresen writes to BOCSAR asking for the source of the figures cited in a Sydney Morning Herald article which claimed, “...
crime statistics last week revealed a 10 per cent increase in reported sexual assaults last year, two per cent of which led to court
convictions...”
25/3/21 BOCSAR replies to Greg Andresen stating, “I am uncertain where this 2% has come from. We did not provide any direct data.
However, here is some useful information on the progression of Sexual Assault through the criminal justice system:
https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_pages/Sexual-assault.aspx"
17/4/21 Greg Andresen writes to NSW Police Media Unit about Commissioner Fuller’s claim in The Daily Telegraph that, “last year we
received more than 15,000 reports of sexual assault. But men continue to get away with it — less than 2 per cent of reports lead to
guilty verdicts in court.” He cites the correct data provided by BOCSAR, and requests a correction or citing of the data source for
the Commissioner’s claim.
13/5/21 Office of the NSW Police Commissioner replies to Greg Andresen stating, “In the 2020 calendar year there were 15,580 incidents of
sexual violence reported to the NSW Police Force... These statistics are collated and maintained by the NSW Police Force State
Intelligence Command...It is understood that BOCSAR sexual assault statistics are drawn from a smaller range of sexual offences.”
28/5/21 Greg Andresen writes to the Office of the NSW Police Commissioner about his claim, citing newly released 2020 BOCSAR data
and once again requesting a correction or citing of the data source for his claim.
11/8/21 Office of the NSW Police Commissioner replies to Greg Andresen repeating their previous claim that the data sets used by NSW
Police and BOCSAR use different parameters, and therefore cannot not be considered comparable.
19/8/21 Greg Andresen submits a GIPA Application to the NSW Police Force requesting the number of guilty verdicts in court for the
calendar year 2020 taken from Court Records that the NSW Police used to calculate the "less than 2 per cent" figure cited by
Commissioner Fuller in his opinion piece.
14/9/21 NSW Police provides Greg Andresen with the data from his GIPA Application showing that Commissioner Fuller’s claim was taken
from Law Reform Commission (LRC) Report 148 - Consent in relation to sexual offences.
18/9/2021 Greg Andresen writes to BOCSAR showing that the incorrect data cited by Commissioner Fuller came from the LRC Report, noting
that the data doesn’t appear in any of BOCSAR’s reports, and asking BOCSAR to clarify.
18/9/21 Greg Andresen writes to the NSW Law Reform Commission asking them to provide the source data quoted in Figure 2.1 on page
15 of their report 148.
21/9/21 The Law Reform Commission replies to Greg Andresen stating, “We understand that you have contacted the NSW Bureau of Crime
Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) and they are preparing a response to your enquiry.”
18/10/21 Greg Andresen writes to BOCSAR asking for an update.
18/10/21 BOCSAR replies to Greg Andresen stating, "Apologies for the delay – we’ve had to run a few programming requests to extract the
correct data and expect to have that finalised this week. We’ll be in touch as soon as it’s ready � ”
20/10/21 Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Consent Reforms) Bill 2021 introduced in the NSW Parliament.
18/11/21 Greg Andresen writes to BOCSAR asking for an update.
19/11/21 BOCSAR replies to Greg Andresen stating, "So it turns out there’s been some complexity in resolving the differences between the
figures. We’re definitely still working on it but due to resourcing, it’s just taking a bit longer than anticipated. I’ll definitely be in touch
as soon as we have an update.”
23/11/21 Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Consent Reforms) Bill 2021 passed Parliament.
6/12/21 Law Reform Commission publishes statement on their website noting data errors, with no press release, and doesn’t inform Greg
Andresen
23/12/21 Greg Andresen writes to BOCSAR asking for an update.
24/12/21 BOCSAR replies to Greg Andresen stating, "Since the Law Reform Commission report was tabled, BOCSAR became aware that
some of the data in the report was incorrect. For more information please view the statement from the Law Reform Commission,
which compares the original data with the correct data - https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Current-projects/
Consent/NSWLRC%20Statement%20-%20Report%20138%20-%206%20Dec%202021.pdf"
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