Nicole Meyer often wonders whether a different outcome could have been reached if stronger supports for victim-survivors were in place during her alleged abuser's trial.
Together with her sisters, Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper, she spent years pursuing justice against former principal Malka Leifer, who was in 2023 convicted of 18 sexual offences, but none relating to her.
Ms Meyer believes the outcome may have been different if her earlier psychiatric reports and psychiatrist had not been presented to court.
Her meetings with the psychiatrist were from years prior, at a time when Ms Meyer claims she was unable to put her sexual assault allegations into words.
"I might have had a different outcome," Ms Meyer told AAP on Wednesday, in response to news of reforms to protect victim-survivor counselling records.
"That's something I deeply feel."
The Victorian government has moved to strengthen laws around access to sex assault victims' confidential counselling records and pre-recording of evidence.
Advocate Brittany Higgins was among a group who signed an open letter to the state's premier and attorney-general on Tuesday, calling for stronger protections for complainants.
The letter, written by Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, discussed a range of reforms including a right for all sexual assault complainants to pre-record their court evidence.
It also suggested stronger protections over victim-survivor's confidential communications, including medical and counselling records, which can be subpoenaed by defence without their knowledge.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny has confirmed the government plans to pursue the reforms.
"Victoria has some of the strongest legal protections for victim-survivors in Australia but there's always more to be done," Ms Kilkenny said.
The reforms were also among a suite of recommendations floated by the Australian Law Reform Commission in a 2025 review, and the Victorian Law Reform Commission in 2021.
Ms Higgins - whose counselling records were subpoenaed during the criminal trial of her alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann - said the changes would reduce harm to victim-survivors seeking justice.
"The reality is that for many, the legal system feels less like a pathway to justice and more like a second site of harm," she said.
"Until we meaningfully reduce the risk of re-traumatisation within our courts, we cannot expect people to continue to subject themselves to the legal process."
Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and the criminal trial was abandoned without findings due to juror misconduct.
The Federal Court found he did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Ms Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
Evidence of a victim's sexual history is not admissible in Victoria when it is used to suggest they are more likely to have consented to the activity in question.
But judges have interpreted the law differently, with some victim-survivors reporting their sexual history being used as evidence, the letter said.
