Victoria's criminal justice system is traumatising victims, with one in four unwilling to report a crime again, a survey suggests.
Victims of Crime Commissioner Fiona McCormack, whose damning report was released on Monday, found the system was failing victims.
Almost 75 per cent of those who went through the justice process felt excluded from it, with many traumatised and unwilling to go through the system again, the commissioner's Silenced and Sidelined report revealed.
The findings were based on responses from about 200 people, which the commissioner conceded was not a representative sample of all victims of crime in Victoria.
Victims said they felt unheard, powerless and detached, with one describing their five-year legal ordeal as a "nightmare".
"I wasn't treated as a participant or even an observer. It was like a TV show being played in front of me," they said in the 500-page report.
Victims repeatedly brought up court delays as the source of further trauma, with many enduring years of legal proceedings and distress.
One victim said delays led to her sister's suicide.
"Unfortunately, due to (the perpetrator) having no legal counsel the judge adjourned the hearing again," they said.
"My sister and I were devastated, exhausted, in despair.
"Three weeks later my sister was dead, she (had taken her own life).
"This is the consequence of a delayed, drawn-out justice system."
One victim recalled feeling pressured to drop charges when police turned up at their workplace and said they were so embarrassed they did not look at the documents before signing them.
Another victim said they felt they were treated as "subhuman" and excluded because of their disabilities - a feeling shared by others, as 63 per cent of surveyed victims with disabilities said they never felt like a participant in the justice system.
"I was put in court with the perpetrator next to me," they said.
"Because my wheelchair didn't fit in the safety room in court, I couldn't go in there."
The commissioner said Victoria's justice system was offender-focused, with victims reduced to feeling "silenced and sidelined" in the process.
"It's traumatising," Ms McCormack told reporters on Monday.
"The interventions that have been introduced over the last couple of decades really constitute tinkering around the edges.
"It's time for wholesale change for victims.
"We need to challenge the assumptions about what victims can or should put up with."
The commissioner made 55 recommendations, including that the government ensure victims' rights were legal and human rights, and that magistrates and judges uphold them.
The report suggested 75 per cent of victims were not told about Victims' Charter laws, which demand police, prosecutors and victims' services agencies give people clear, timely and consistent information.
Ms McCormack is pushing for legal protection from unreasonable court delays and for offenders to be banned from personally cross-examining victims about their victim impact statements.
She sought more funding to allow existing witness support services to meet demand and suggested the government set up a dedicated and specialised victim liaison service in every courthouse.
The state government should also set up an independent body to allow victims to seek a review of police and prosecutor decisions, the commission said.
Victim Support Minister Enver Erdogan sent the commissioner a letter requesting a meeting but did not commit to implementing any recommendations from the report, which was handed to the government in November.
Senior Victorian government minister Gabrielle Williams said Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes would consider the report and its recommendations after it is formally tabled in parliament.
"We know that engaging in our justice system is incredibly difficult for those who are required to do it," she told reporters on Monday.
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