VOCAL – Then and Now
We support grieving relatives and unskilled victims of crime in whatever way we can, for ‘as long as it takes’.

 The Victims of Crime Assistance League Inc NSW was formally formed in 1989, as a self-help support group for families after homicide. In 1994, it extended support to anyone harmed by threat, bullying and violent crime and became a ‘generalist’ victim support organisation. VOCAL is a registered charity and welcomes community support. Finacial donations over $2.00 are tax deductible. Membership is available for a small annual fee.

1989 Support for Grieving Relatives Begins
VOCAL was the first victim support organisation for families after homicide in NSW.

 A major catalyst for the group was the case of nineteen-year-old Tracey Gilbert, from Woodberry, NSW – a sleepy little place near Newcastle.

Tracey went out with a fellow, a man whose first marriage had failed.   She   decided to end the relationship.  Her decision was punished by months of escalating stalking, threats and property damage by the man who refused to let her go.   The police did not take the matter seriously, did not find the required evidence to catch and convict him.  Over time shots were fired into the home and her family lived like prisoners, guarding her – in constant terror for her.   Still the police did nothing.  The rejected ex walked into the hairdressing salon where she worked and when she refused to leave with him, he shot her.

Already disgusted and outraged by the lack of attention given to this foreseeable, preventable, senselessness, crime Tracey’s family and the community became even more outraged, disgusted and horrified at the way things evolved after she was shot, and later the legal case.   They soon learned that life and truth gives way to a selective legal system where they had very few rights, no status and no power at all to speak for their murdered beloved daughter. 

They found that the rights of an accused matter, his reasons and behaviours matter, but the victim has no rights, no representation, no voice, no champion, no one to defend their truth, and their families are officially silenced and restricted from speaking of their experiences.You can read Tracey’s Story in ‘Victims Stories’.

So through realising ‘there was no help out there’ for themselves or other families after homicide, VOCAL members decided to help themselves through helping others. VOCAL provided an opportunity for people affected by homicide to meet, to learn from and be supported by others who really understood some of what they were going through – because they too had, and were, living in the aftermath of violent murder. VOCAL also became a lobby group – pushing for victim-friendly responses and services and over the years, VOCAL has contributed consistently to legal, legislative, bureacratic and other enquiries to progress the rights and responses for crime victims.

Tracey’s mother, Dawn became the backbone of VOCAL, dedicated to assisting others, lobbying for change, informing the community and speaking out against injustice. It was for Dawn, a way of making her beloved child’s death have purpose instead of being just a tragic waste – the product of a criminal system based on the rights of an accused, not on preventing senseless death or damage to victims.

Homicide families today still tell us that not much has changed with the legal games following homicides. They also experience a hugely variable range of ‘life after traumatic death’ experiences. There is no ‘certainty’, no clear process, no real ‘system’, no ‘closure’ for them. Each person’s journey is unique. 

Each ‘case’, each family, each individual, each set of circumstances, each investigation and each legal process is infinitely variable. Families’ lives will be forever altered from the moment a person disappears, or from the initial impact of learning of the crime, medical procedures, hospital rules, identifications, post-mortem examinations, police procedures, media, the funeral and the unfolding of lives affected forever by the crime against their loved one.  Then there are all the legal systems – criminal law, testate law, civil law, property law etc. Such cases can bring families together, or tear them apart. 

VOCAL’s role is to support the individuals, ‘for as long as it takes’. See VOCAL’s Christmas Tree of Angels

Unskilled Victims 1994 to Now
From 1994 onwards, VOCAL found itself asked to also work with people who had experienced other crimes of violence, such as attempted murder, violent assaults, domestic and family violence, sexual violence of all types, child abuse, armed robberies, arson, bullying, threats, harassment, road crash deaths and disability, etc.  Many had suffered in multiple ways, and had complex issues.  It seemed obvious that by focusing on the people and what they needed, rather than the often arbitrary ‘type’ of crime that identified them, VOCAL developed its current focus and strategy.

 We call it ‘Victim – Survivor – Thriver – Inspirer’.   By focusing on who people are, where they are up to, what they need and by offering all that we know that might help them – now and in the future,  VOCAL’s support is individual, grass-roots, positive and useful.  It is frequently evaluated by our recipients, as effective; ‘Like getting personal life-coaching – for life after victimisation’.

Since 1998 VOCAL has received financial support to offer a victims support service in the Hunter Region of NSW from the NSW Government, Department of Attorney General and Justice, which permitted us to employ  some paid staff .  VOCAL values its fantastic volunteers without whom it would be impossible to function.

Unfortunately it is a growth industry, and life seems to be becoming more complicated than ever.

As it was unskilled victims and grieving relatives, whose life tragedies led to positive support for others, so today, 23 years later we continue to pioneer victim-inclusive strategies and offer today’s victims the opportunity to speak about their experiences and how they were treated.  The idea of fair treatment and justice for victims has a long way to go.

Many things have changed for victims of violent crime in NSW since 1989:-

• There is a coordinated government response to providing counselling and compensation to some victims of some personal, violent crimes.
• There are now many more services directed to assisting some victims of specific types of crime – like Domestic Violence, Homicide, Sexual Assault, Incest, Child abuse etc.

VOCAL makes referrals to relevant services where they exist and where they do not exist, we fill in lots of gaps; big gaps.  Complex gaps.  Gaps that harm people.  Crime can impact and mess up any aspect of life – sometimes forever. Helping victims survive and move forward in life is important work. The system is important, but it is only part of what many victims need to address, after a crime.  In fact, the majority of victims never get to court, can’t get victims compensation, but that doesn’t mean the harm and impact they suffered isn’t important or supportable.

Today, VOCAL Inc NSW remains a unique service because it is a generalist, holistic service:

• For any person who has been threatened, bullied or harmed
• For victims of any crime, especially violent crime or similar tragedy
• Through any stage of life after crime, including – but not limited to ‘the systems’

We still want appropriate services to be available to everyone who needs them, not just selected services for specified victim types. By working together as a team, combining our experiences and skills, and determined to do the very best we can, we assist people – victims, relatives, friends, witnesses, service providers and communities affected and harmed by any type of crime, particularly violent crime. We’ll try. Any victim, any issue, at any time.

A United Front
VOCAL believes victim focused change will only happen comprehensively when groups supporting different categories of victims also begin to work cohesively together for common goals for all victims, and such a function needs to be overseen by a NSW Commisssioner for Victims of Crime as operates in South Australia.

The Dream…
Imagine if all the different types of victim and survivor groups worked cooperatively together, there would be a momentous force for positive change.  If all those bureaucrats began to understand the reality of law and process.  If the law schools taught about trauma.  If the rights of the law-abiding public took precedence over, or were at least equal to the rights of an accused.

Perhaps even strong enough to positively change the CRIMINAL legal system?  Or the ADVERSARIAL system into a truth-seeking system.  There is much to do.

Do you care?  Do you want people to get afair go?  Then become a member and add your voice to a growing call for justice for all.