Inquiry to Circumvent Abuse Pain

By Richard Willingham
The Age
January 17, 2013

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/inquiry-to-circumvent-abuse-pain-20130117-2cw6x.html

Victims of abuse who have already given evidence to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations may be saved the pain of having to go through new hearings for the royal commission.

There has been some concern that abuse survivors may have to give their evidence again, to the royal commission, which could cause unnecessary trauma.

The terms of reference released last week say that commissioners are not required ''to inquire, or to continue to inquire, into a particular matter to the extent that you are satisfied that the matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by another inquiry or investigation or a criminal or civil proceeding''.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the royal commission, Justice Peter McClellan, said: ''The commission is mindful of the work which has been done in various parts of Australia and will seek to draw upon the material which has already been gathered by those inquiries.''

The logistics of how evidence can be rolled into the royal commission are still being worked on. Last year, former Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles, QC, said the Victorian Parliament would also have to formally waive parliamentary privilege to enable evidence given to the committee to be used by the royal commission.

Other issues are understood to include privacy issues for people who may have given evidence ''in camera'' to the inquiry.

Submissions to the inquiry and transcripts of public hearings are easily available online.

The Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations was established six months ago. When the royal commission's terms of reference were released, its chairwoman, Liberal MP Georgie Crozier, said its work would continue, adding that it had already made significant progress.

The committee meets next week and on Wednesday will hold another day of hearings, including evidence from Catholics for Renewal.

Victim and survivor groups, as well as some MPs, see the benefit of not duplicating evidence because it can minimise grief as well as save time and money.

But Chris MacIsaac, president of Broken Rites, said many survivors were eager to get involved with the royal commission and to have their evidence heard.

The Victorian government said it would work with the parliamentary committee, stakeholders and the Commonwealth to appropriately bring together the work of the two inquiries.