Victims of crime: Are we doing enough?

Candid Conversations with Elizabeth Langdon, Victorian Victims of Crime Commissioner 

Hosted by Dr Marianne Broadbent

Victim survivors of a crime, deserve our support. The wider effect of crime on our community deserves our attention.

Behind every victim survivor there is a family receiving unexpected and painful news; and the Victim’s wider community grappling with shock and grief, struggling to make sense of what has happened. The long-term effects and consequences of this trauma for the victims, their families, and the wider community are significant. Their view of life becomes divided into a clear "before" and "after". It can be a life-long struggle.

Because of the effects on their and their families’ lives and given the legal and emotional landscape they need to navigate, Victim survivors of crime may ask is it worth coming forward? It's a fair question.

Too often, people are harmed not only by the crime itself, but by the systems they turn to for help. Too often, victim survivors become victims of the very systems meant to support them.

We are fortunate the through the work of the Victorian Victims of Crime Commission, that we can understand not only about the enduring impact of crime, but also about the profound frustration and hurt many victims experience when navigating the justice system. They deserve a system that stands beside them with compassion, respect and practical support. They deserve to be recognised not as bystanders to justice, but as people with an inherent interest in how the justice system responds to the harm they have suffered. 

This is an important area of both legal and social policy and intervention. We all need to understand this system, and how we as a community manage, support and assist in the healing of those Victims and their wider community.

Victoria's Victims of Crime Commissioner and Melbourne Forum member, Elizabeth Langdon, will discuss her role in creating a better system for victims. She will pose questions about why the system can re-victimised the very people that system is meant to serve.

Elizabeth Langdon is a highly experienced executive leader with more than 30 years' experience working in the public and private sectors.  She took up  the role as Victoria’s Victims of Crime Commissioner in 2024.  This is an independent statutory position responsible for advocating for the recognition, inclusion, participation and respect of victims of crime in the justice system.

Prior to her current role, Elizabeth successfully led public sector agencies, regulatory policy and compliance, policy reform, research and operations in diverse settings. She has overseen complex, high-profile and high-risk initiatives successfully in Australia and overseas through collaboration, strategic thinking, advocacy, strong planning acumen, proven stakeholder skills and a delivery focus. Elizabeth has a keen interest in building high performing, diverse teams and in finding innovative ways to drive reform.  

Commissioner Langdon worked at the United Nations (UN) in New York and Geneva. She was a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. The Commissioner also held a leadership role at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Additionally, she holds a BA from the University of Melbourne, a Masters in Political Sciences from Pierre Mendes-France University, and has received several awards for her work. 
 

Please join Victoria’s Victims of Crime Commissioner, Elizabeth Langdon, as she examines how the system can better support victims—and why it sometimes fails them.