Call for Multiple Commissioners for Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry

ABC - PM
December 19, 2012

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3657123.htm

SALLY SARA: Queensland's peak child protection body is calling for the Federal Government's child sexual abuse inquiry to employ multiple commissioners rather than just one.

The Federal Government is finalising the terms of reference for the inquiry by the end of this year.

PeakCare says the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse needs more Commissioners to cope with the scale of the investigation and ensure it doesn't take longer than necessary.

The organisation's call to broaden the inquiry's scope is backed up by South Australia's Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent, who wants disability issues to be properly investigated and expressly referred to in the terms of reference.

Nance Haxton reports.

NANCE HAXTON: PeakCare represents more than 70 child protection bodies in Queensland.

The not-for-profit group has written a submission to the Federal Government asking that the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse consider having more than one commissioner.

Executive director Lindsay Wegener says this would benefit the inquiry in a number of ways.

LINDSAY WEGENER: We think that a national commission requires a timely response and one that allows commissioners to have particular sets of expertise.

It's important to have people included who have broad ranging expertise in relation to child protection matters and absolutely it's essential that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are represented with a commissioner able to represent their unique perspectives on the treatment that they've sometimes received at the hand of child protection services.

NANCE HAXTON: So not just limiting it to people with legal expertise?

LINDSAY WEGENER: No, that's right, it should be much broader than that, that all of those perspectives are incredibly important to the conduct of a full inquiry.

NANCE HAXTON: He says PeakCare has also asked the Federal Government to consider streaming the hearings live online, with in-camera hearings when necessary.

LINDSAY WEGENER: The public hearings have an incredibly important purpose in ensuring accountability but also ensuring that the public do become aware of these complex matters.

NANCE HAXTON: Mr Wegener hopes that by using a number of commissioners, it will also ensure that the inquiry doesn't take years to complete.

LINDSAY WEGENER: Once these issues are raised they should be dealt with in a manner that means that the solutions can be found quickly.

In many ways what we're talking about with this form of institutional abuse is that people in authority exploit the kind of power that they have on people who are vulnerable. And that includes children who have had disabilities and that kind of unfettered power should not be allowed to continue.

But people need to be held to account and we need to ensure that the safeguards exist, that that kind of unfettered power cannot be unleashed on people's lives.

NANCE HAXTON: Mr Wegener's calls to ensure that special interest groups are included in the inquiry is backed up by South Australia's Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent.

She is extremely concerned that many cases of alleged sexual abuse of disabled children are dropped before going to trial.

Ms Vincent says the inquiry must investigate why many people with an intellectual disability are not allowed to give evidence in court, because they are not viewed as credible witnesses in our adversarial court system.

KELLY VINCENT: Facilitators to assist people with communication disabilities in courts and police interviews is something that Dignity for Disability remains very passionate about advocating for.

NANCE HAXTON: So you'd hope that they are open to including that and to the terms of reference?

KELLY VINCENT: I am particularly hopeful that that will occur particularly when you do consider that the research does indicate quite clearly that children with disabilities are between four and seven times more likely to experience some form of abuse in their lives than on disabled peers and all the barriers that can lead to that, including a lack of education around biology, sexuality and protective behaviours in particular is concerning.

So we've got a long road to travel and I'm very willing to work with whoever I have to to make sure that it's travelled in the right way.

SALLY SARA: South Australia's Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent ending that report from Nance Haxton.