AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Jacob Kagi
Statutory time limits preventing victims of sexual abuse from taking civil action many years later could be scrapped, if WA’s Parliament passes legislation to be introduced by a backbench Liberal MP.
Eyre MP Graham Jacobs will this morning introduce a bill seeking to remove the six-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases in WA.
If the legislation passes, it will allow people who suffered physical or mental injuries as a result of abuse to take civil action seeking compensation, regardless of how long ago it occurred.
Dr Jacobs said Victoria had already moved to implement similar laws and it was only a matter of time before other states followed suit, saying WA should make sure it was not last in line.
“The average latency period from the time of tort, as the lawyers would say, and the victim declaring that it had occurred is 24 years. So well outside the six years,” he said.
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