NSW may extend time limit on child sex abuse claims

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Thursday 22 January 2015

The NSW government is considering lifting the time limit in which survivors of child sexual abuse can sue for damages.

The NSW attorney general Brad Hazzard said the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse had uncovered widespread claims about abuse and the legal barriers survivors face in pursuing justice many years after the crime.

“It is well documented that many survivors of child sexual abuse do not disclose their experiences or act on them until decades after the abuse, well after the time period has ended,” Hazzard said on Friday.

The government has released a discussion paper on whether to amend the Limitation Act 1969 and wants to hear from the public.

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