Noel McNamara

Noel John McNamara (born 12 January 1938) is an Australian campaigner for victims of crime and outspoken critic of the Australian justice system. In 1993 McNamara established the Crime Victims Support Association (CVSA) with his wife Bev McNamara. The association is politically involved and lobbies the government on criminal law reform and greater support for victims of crime.

McNamara frequently airs his views in the Australian news media. His 'hardline' approach to crime often conflicts with the views and actions of civil liberties advocates, the parole board, members of the legal profession and judges. McNamara advocates harsher jail sentences for people convicted of murder, rape, pedophilia, culpable driving and other violent crimes. He also advocates the abolition of minimum sentences within the penal system, the abolition of double jeopardy laws and the abolition of crimes compensation payments to the families of murdered criminals.

McNamara was outraged after his eldest daughter Tracey McNamara was murdered in 1992 and the killer only received a 10 years minimum jail term. Since that time McNamara has actively supported victims of violent crime and often personally attends court cases on behalf of victims. His motto is, “To make justice a right, not a privilege.”

Once a year, McNamara hosts The Flight of Angels memorial service on the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne for victims of homicide and culpable driving.

Both Noel McNamara and Beverley McNamara received the Order of Australia (Companion) Medal in 2004 for service to the community, particularly through the Crime Victims Support Association Victoria.

In 2008 McNamara initiated an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to have the Victorian Attorney-General, Rob Hulls, review the laws of Double Jeopardy (where once a person is acquitted in a criminal trial, he or she can never be prosecuted again for the crime despite new evidence, confessions, or even a proven miscarriage of justice in the original trial). This was in light of the fact that reform has already taken place in the other Australasian jurisdictions of South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and New Zealand.

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