AUSTRALIA
The Australian
A WEEK after Julia Gillard announced a royal commission into child sexual abuse, the challenge of satisfying community expectations is growing harder by the day. The government was right to respond to community concerns, but a nagging question still remains: what is the commission designed to do?
In the absence of a carefully defined brief, the commission – which is yet to be established – is being wildly misconstrued by politicians, lawyers and children’s advocates. Australians have overwhelmingly welcomed the commission, and so does The Australian. From the outset, however, we argued that the terms of reference and timetable for the commission will be critical. First and foremost, the government must be clear about what it wants from the inquiry. Should it be an investigative commission to uncover new cases of abuse and lead to police action or is that a job for another body? Should it have a therapeutic purpose, offering a forum for victims of child abuse to tell their stories? Or should it concentrate firmly on institutional failings and look at regulations, practices and procedures that could be put in place to help ensure that such abuse of children is not repeated?
Several lawyers have seized on the commission as an opportunity sign up new clients and to make money from it. This presents a risk that the commission could be turned into a legal circus. As reported in The Australian yesterday, at least one law firm is spruiking its services, asking victims of child sexual abuse to come forward so that they may have a “claim” to make to the commission once it is up and running. But as yet there is no procedure for hearing or investigating such claims, let alone any discussion of paying compensation. In addition, a number of victims’ advocacy groups have been contacted about new claims of abuse. Other well-meaning advocacy and victim support groups are recording a sharp increase in inquiries made to their organisations. The inflated expectations may be impossible to meet.
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