In late June, Victoria’s Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny committed to reviewing the operation of the state’s Open Courts Act. This follows a period of immense public scrutiny of the state of open justice in Victoria following two high-profile events.

The first was the public consternation that followed the revelation that convicted rapist Tom Silvagni, son of football legend Stephen Silvagni and media personality Jo Silvagni, had obtained a suppression order over his identity on mental health grounds.

Unfortunately, there are many more such cases, but we can’t discuss them as they remain suppressed.

The second was the publication by two Monash academics – since debunked – suggesting Victoria makes more suppression orders than almost every other jurisdiction in Australia combined.

While Victoria may not deserve the mantle of “suppression order capital” of Australia based on statistics, there’s no doubt open justice is at crisis point in the state. Secrecy is widespread, and judicial disdain and scepticism for the media’s role in open justice is rife.

The importance of the principle of open justice cannot be overstated. Publicity ensures that judges act fairly, impartially and according to law. It’s fundamental to the operation of the rule of law: that everyone is equal before the law and must obey it.

Addressing this situation will require a lot of work. Here are six issues that should be central to reforming the court system in Victoria.

1. Suppression orders on mental health grounds

There needs to be a........

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