Support for Child Sex Abuse Commissioners

The ABC News
January 12, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-12/support-for-child-sex-abuse-commissioners/4461994

Sex abuse victim Peter Gogarty.

[terms of reference - Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse]

A Hunter Valley clergy abuse victim has applauded the Federal Government for taking victims into account as it compiled the terms of reference for its Royal Commission.

The probe was partly prompted by child sex cover up claims made by Hunter Valley Detective Peter Fox.

The main focus will be to investigate systemic failures within church and state-run institutions in preventing and dealing with child abuse.

The terms of reference specifically ask the Commissioners to consider what action governments and institutions should take to help victims.

There are 13 terms of reference and abuse victim Peter Gogarty says they are very comprehensive.

"The Government clearly has gone to a lot of trouble to get these terms of reference right." he said.

"There appears to be a very very strong commitment for this Royal Commission getting to the very bottom of this issue."

Supreme Court judge Peter McClellan will lead the Royal Commission.

He will be supported by five other commissioners, including former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson and former senator Andrew Murray.