Crime victims' rights, safety boosted in law tweaks

Premier Chris Minns foreshadowed the move in November, when a drug addict who bashed a police officer with a brick and left her for dead in 2009 was released from prison despite being deemed a high risk of re-offending.

The officer - then-sergeant Samantha Barlow - only learned the perpetrator would be released days before he was freed.

"Sam (Barlow) and Howard Brown and other victims of crime advocates are supportive of these changes," the premier told 2GB.

"It's a big shake up in NSW, it's long overdue, and we're grateful Sam Barlow had enough courage and conviction to ... relive an absolute trauma to get a change to the law."

Notifications a victim-survivor receives include details about the offender's location, their sentence, parole eligibility and other things affecting their safety.

Victim-survivors are often able to make a submission relating to an offender's suitability for parole.

Victims advocate Howard Brown welcomed the changes and said they would help those affected move on with their lives.

"The victims registers are able to provide the kind of information that victim-survivors may feel that they need to be able to take back control of their lives, sometimes many years after a serious crime has been committed against them," he said.

"Maximising free and full access to such a vital resource like the victims registers is a major step toward healing for victim-survivors."

Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the tweaks balanced the safety implications for victims with the need for them to not to be retraumatised.

"These reforms are about ensuring that victim-survivors of serious crimes know about the victims registers and have a clear opportunity to sign up and benefit from being registered," he said.

The mandatory notifications are expected to be for families of murder victims, those where an offender is serving a life sentence, and for victims of serious offences like attempted murder, sexual assault and abduction.