Vic Govt to Act Swiftly on Abuse Report

The 9 News
November 13, 2013

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/11/14/02/05/vic-govt-to-act-swiftly-on-abuse-report

The Victorian government says it will not wait to act on a child sex abuse report that is scathing of the Catholic Church and recommends widespread legislative reform.

The government has six months to consider the recommendations of the inquiry into child sex abuse which include a call for concealing child abuse offences to be made a crime.

But Premier Denis Napthine said the government would introduce changes to the law in parliament early next year.

"The government will not wait to act on this report," Dr Napthine said.

"Criminal abuse of children represents a departure of the gravest kind from the standards of decency fundamental to any civilised society."

The report also says it should be an offence to groom a child for sexual abuse and to place a child at risk.

Following its investigation of child abuse by religious and other non-government institutions, the committee made 15 major recommendations, including a call for barriers to civil litigation to be removed.

Lawyer Viv Waller, who represents 70 victims of abuse perpetrated by clergy in Ballarat, said the changes would mean more victims would come forward.

But Dr Waller said senior clergy who had moved known child abusers to different parishes should be held accountable.

Victims and advocacy groups have hailed the 800-page report as a powerful and reaffirming document that delivers "everything they wanted".

Anthony Foster, whose two daughters were abused by a priest, said the most significant recommendation would be the exposure of organisations to the legal system.

"Out of this we will see the Catholic Church become part of the legal system in the state of Victoria in a way that it hasn't been in the past," Mr Foster said.

The report slams the Catholic Church's response to sexual abuse by clergy, exposing a culture of concealment and denial.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said the church acknowledged the failings of the past and its mistakes had been indefensible.

"It is the worst betrayal of trust in my lifetime in the Catholic Church," Archbishop Hart said.

He said the church would back recommended changes to the law to make concealing or failing to report child abuse a crime.

Dr Napthine said all organisations, particularly the ones named in the inquiry, need to read the report and adopt its recommendations.