Premier Ben Carroll has said that a re-elected Victorian Labor government would legislate tougher penalties for rapists, sex offenders and family violence perpetrators.
Under the Labor commitment, a re-elected Carroll government will introduce a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for rape, and increase the maximum penalties for all serious sexual offences by five years.
Victorians go to the polls on November 28, in the first election for both Mr Carroll and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson as party leaders.
Offenders who murder their current or former partner will also face a standard sentence of 30 years, up from 25 years.
Labor, if re-elected in November, has also pledged to introduce two new laws, in a bid to crack down on what it describes as family violence "loopholes".
An Australian-first offence will be introduced to criminalise family violence offenders abandoning victims in need of urgent medical help, following the deaths of Victorian women Narelle Simmons and Belinda Jones.
Narelle Simmons, 42, died in October 2021 after being punched twice in the face then elbowed in the head by her partner, who then left her without seeking medical help.
In July 2023, Belinda Jones died on her bedroom floor from a severe bacterial infection, after her partner left her there overnight then waited a further two hours to call an ambulance the following morning, despite finding her cold and unresponsive.
A Coroners Court review of 1,172 suicides in Victoria between 2009 and 2016 found 24.5 per cent of the victims had experienced domestic and family violence.