Royal Commission Should Pave Way for New Court to Deal with Child Abuse: Dr Freda Briggs

ABC
November 13, 2012

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3631918.htm

[with audio]

MARK COLVIN: One of Australia's foremost child protection experts, Dr Freda Briggs, believes that millions of Australians have been victims of child abuse.

She says a royal commission can only deal with that by restricting its terms of reference to the systems which ignored or covered up the abuse, and she hopes the inquiry will come up with a new jurisdiction to deal with child sex abuse cases.

Emeritus Professor Briggs spoke to Alexandra Kirk.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: No doubt the royal commission will be a very painful experience for victims and their families; do you have advice as to how they should prepare themselves?

FREDA BRIGGS: Yes, you're absolutely right because I was involved helping quite a few of the men who went to the Mullighan Inquiry and it is extraordinarily difficult for men to be able to go and talk about what happened to them because they very often haven't told anybody.

They're worried that other people will find out. I mean what they need is an absolute assurance of confidentiality and privacy unless they themselves want their story published, possibly anonymously.

I would hope that the commissioner will ensure that people are made very comfortable, that the atmosphere is warm and relaxed. The Mullighan Inquiry, I knew of men who drove all the way over from Western Australia and got as far as the door and turned around and drove back again. They went into panic mode.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: What do you hope will come out of the royal commission?

FREDA BRIGGS: Well I hope that there will be national legislation. For example, we need national child protection curriculum in schools. We've got a state one in South Australia, which is a very good one. New South Wales has one but other states, to my knowledge, haven't got one yet.

And this in particular needs to be in the church schools because there are still problems, current ones, recent ones where they really have learned nothing from past experiences where paedophiles have been protected, reports haven't been taken seriously, haven't been reported to police and, even when the teachers have been charged, where the school has actually supported them.

And they haven't provided counselling for the victims, counselling for the parents or counselling for the traumatised staff and all those things need to be put in.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Do you think that the royal commission will end up prosecuting or with prosecutions being launched against paedophiles?

FREDA BRIGGS: I think there will be but of course it isn't the job of the royal commission. It will be a police matter.

I hope that it will lead to changes in systems. I hope that it will also include systems such as the Family Court where we know that children have been sent to live with convicted child sex offenders who would never be allowed to work with, or volunteer, with other people's children. And that is a major concern.

We have, you know, lots of cases where we can show that the Family Court is not protecting children. And of course the Family Court itself does not have the capacity to investigate allegations of child abuse which now fill a lot of its time and of course the people in the Family Court are lawyers and you don't have people making decisions who are experts in child abuse or child development.

So I would hope that that would be one of the institutions that would be looked for as well as schools and churches.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: And from your experience, knowing what you do about child abuse, how widespread do you think this is?

FREDA BRIGGS: Very. I heard Father Chris Riley this morning on ABC saying that there are millions of victims in Australia right now.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: What's your view?

FREDA BRIGGS: I agree.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Can a royal commission realistically deal with that?

FREDA BRIGGS: Well it couldn't unless you're restricted these terms of reference and I'm sure that will happen. Otherwise it's going to be too vast and too expensive.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: How would you propose that be done?

FREDA BRIGGS: In relation to the systems, where people have been ignored, where people have reported child sex abuse, to clergy for example, and the clergy have said we'll deal with it and of course it hasn't happened, that has happened in a lot of cases.

With the Family Court, I would hope that cases will be looked at and the system looked at to see what needs to be done to change it.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: So do you think there should be a separate court system to deal with child abuse?

FREDA BRIGGS: You need a court that can investigate in much the same way as a coronial inquiry; it can investigate all the evidence and it's even been suggested that you don't need lawyers as judges, you could have people who are experts in child abuse assisted by a legal officer which paradoxically is the system I worked with in London a long time ago, with the child's needs taking priority.

Because the Criminal Court is not helpful at all in protecting young children, or children with disabilities who lack, you know, the sophisticated communication skills that they need to be cross-examined rigorously by barristers.

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Do you think that will be one of the likely recommendations to come out the royal commission?

FREDA BRIGGS: I would love to see that happen, yes.

MARK COLVIN: Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs, from the University of South Australia, speaking there to Alexandra Kirk.