Lawyers Should Be Required to Report Evidence of Child Abuse to Police, Says Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary

Herald Sun
November 13, 2012

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/lawyers-should-be-required-to-report-evidence-of-child-abuse-to-police-says-child-safety-commissioner-bernie-geary/story-fndo3ewo-1226516342920

LAWYERS should be required to report evidence of child abuse to police if they are aware that their client in guilty, says Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary.

Mr Geary told 3AW radio that both lawyers and priests should be legally compelled to report evidence of abuse to authorities.

"I think it’s one in all in. I can’t see any reason that anybody who is aware of a child being maltreated, abused, should hold that information. For the sake of the child we all should be looking after children," he said.

“Professional people are compelled to report, social workers and the like. There’s a list of mandated people. Lawyers too, yes. If they are aware of the person that they were defending is guilty, of course, professionally they need to acknowledge that. I do think that we do make rules for some and not for others.

“If we're fair dinkum about protecting children in this community ... and we’re actually allowing professional people to be aware of children being abused and nothing being done about it - that’s a joke."

Teachers, school principals, doctors, nurses and police are legally required to report child abuse in Victoria.

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Mr Geary's comments follow Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne's statement that priests have a responsibility to report crimes to police even if the details are given to them in a confession.

Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Pell, said yesterday "the Seal of Confession is inviolable" even if a priest confesses to child sex abuse.

Cardinal Pell’s comments follow the announcement of a royal commission to investigate how institutions have dealt with cases of child sex abuse following fresh allegations of cover-ups by the Catholic Church and police in the NSW Hunter.

Mr Pyne, a Catholic, said the laws of the nation come before canon law.

"If a priest hears in a confessional a crime, especially a crime against a minor, the priest has the responsibility in my view to report that to the appropriate authorities," Mr Pyne told ABC Radio today.

"In this case the police, because the church nor the priests should be above the law."

Cabinet Minister Bill Shorten also believes the royal commission must debate if priests should be legally compelled to report evidence of child abuse they hear during confession.

Cardinal Pell said priests should avoid hearing confession from colleagues suspected of committing child sex abuse to avoid being bound by the Seal of Confession.