AUSTRALIA
The Age
June 16, 2014
Bryan Keon-Cohen and Joseph Poznanski
Of fifteen recommendations put forward by an inquiry into institutional child sex abuse, the Premier has only acted on three. Why?
In response to community concern about the media coverage of extensive child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and Salvation Army, the Victorian government initiated an inquiry. It was a significant milestone.
The inquiry’s report identified the Catholic Church and the Salvation Army to be the largest institutional offenders, among many ‘offending’ institutions.
The report, by the family and community development parliamentary committee, was tabled in the Victorian Parliament on 13 November, 2013. Six months later, the Napthine government has implemented just three of its 15 recommendations.
Notably, the report, entitled Betrayal of Trust: Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, identifies reforms that are critical to: (i) bringing justice to the victims of child sexual abuse in religious and non-religious institutional settings through amendments to the criminal and civil law in Victoria; (ii) future prevention of child sexual abuse in institutional settings, where children are meant to be provided with care and protection; and (iii) future assurance that all institutions engaged in provision of services to children, will be strictly child-safe in their basic standards of care and accountability.
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