AUSTRALIA
7 News
ABC
JEFF WATERS –
November 13, 2013
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine says the Government will immediately begin drafting legislation in response to the Victorian Parliament’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.
The report calls for a new law to ensure anyone failing to report serious child abuse or concealing it is guilty of an offence.
The report also recommends the creation of a criminal offence of “grooming” children and a new criminal offence of “endangerment” where figures of authority within institutions can be sanctioned for not taking enough precautions.
The report calls upon the Victorian Government to work with Canberra to require religious and other non-government organisations to incorporate legal structures – something resisted by the Catholic Church.
The Federal Government has six months to respond but Dr Napthine says the Victorian Government will not be waiting.
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