Royal Commission Considers Canberra Sessions

ABC News
June 11, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-11/royal-commission-considers-canberra-hearings/4746514?section=act

The Federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is considering holding sessions in Canberra.

Commissioners are holding private sessions around Australia with people who experienced child sexual abuse while in institutional care.

Sessions will be set up in Canberra if there is demand.

Liberal Senator Gary Humphries says the abuse may not have happened in Canberra but people who experienced it now live here.

"Their stories are best heard where they are now, rather than where they originally were," he said.

"If they have to travel to say Sydney to give evidence, it'll be hard to keep that from their families.

"But if they did that while they are in Canberra, anonymously without it being made public, they could get away with that."

Senator Humphries says the sessions can be cathartic for people giving evidence.

"We shouldn't underestimate the importance of lifting the burden off their shoulders."

Anyone interested in telling their story can contact the commission.