AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times
The ACT government’s decision to introduce a bill to scrap the time limits restricting the ability of alleged survivors of child sexual abuse to seek compensation will finally bring the territory into step with NSW and Victoria.
Victoria scrapped its statute of limitations provisions a year ago and the NSW government’s decision took effect on March 17. Neither jurisdiction has had its court system overwhelmed by a sudden flood of historic compensation cases.
Why the ACT government has taken so long to act remains a mystery. Its previous argument, that it was holding off on such action until it was determined whether or not other states or territories would commit to a national redress scheme for abuse survivors, does not compute.
NSW and Victoria were happy to abolish their statute of limitations provisions while simultaneously pushing for the scheme of redress.
By bowing to the obvious and acknowledging the terms of a redress scheme will take some time to finalise, Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, has belatedly put the needs of the victims – many of whom have been suffering the consequences of their abuse for decades – before political process.
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