One of Australia's leading philanthropists has demanded the Premier urgently implement all recommendations from the Victorian inquiry into institutional child sex abuse, warning further delays will lead to a "betrayal of trust".
The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry's final report was tabled in November, but only three of its 15 recommendations have since been implemented, with legislation for a fourth recommendation before parliament.
Andrew Blode, chief executive of the Jack and Robert Smorgon Families Foundation, which helped establish the Australian Council for Children and Youth Organisations and has supported hundreds of charities, recently wrote to Premier Denis Napthine to express concerns about the delay.
"Clearly, if the Victorian government delay taking action any longer, these same institutions named in the inquiry, which receive in excess of $320 million from DHS to provide community services, would be viewed as a 'betrayal of trust'."
On the day the report was tabled, Premier Napthine said all the recommendations “will be considered as a matter of urgency by the Government.”
Mr Blode said it was “imperative” that all 15 recommendations, or at least a majority of them, were implemented before the state election.
Labor MP Frank McGuire, deputy chair of the inquiry, repeated his calls for urgent action in state parliament on Tuesday night and said the government should not use the “excuse” of waiting for the Royal Commission to wind up to “make vulnerable children in Victoria safer”.
Mr McGuire said non-government organisations that receive government funding or assistance needed to be incorporated and properly insured so they can be sued.
Commission of Inquiry Now president Bryan Keon-Cohen also wrote to Dr Napthine two weeks ago on behalf of COIN and 11 other victim support groups, urging the Coalition to avoid further delay in order “to overcome technical obstacles to achieving just outcomes in civil actions in Victorian courts.”
It was “unacceptable” to wait until after the Royal Commission, and “hypocritical” because the recommendations had had bipartisan support.
He called on both the Coalition and Labor to act, saying religious institutions were incapable of “healing themselves” and real reform could not happen without legal force.
It could be years after the Royal Commission’s conclusion for all states and territories to agree on a federal model for victims’ compensation, with older victims at risk of dying before this happened.
“It is an example of victims attempting to achieve closure, justice and support for their suffering, (of their hopes) being raised and then dashed by government inaction and inability to face tough issues.”
A government spokesman said legislation had been introduced into parliament to enact four of the inquiry’s recommendations, including new offences for grooming, failure to protect and failure to disclose – which had passed both houses. New laws that require ministers of religion to obtain working with children checks are before parliament.
Shireen Gunn, manager of the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, said victims continued to suffer. Some were suicidal, with drugs and alcohol problems. Others struggled to hold down jobs and continued to negotiate for compensation with the institutions under whose care they were abused.
The recommendations could support victims practically and help them emotionally in the knowledge that measures were being taken to prevent future abuse.
“It is about ongoing quality of life,” she said. “It is the difference between barely existing and (knowing) that they are supported through those difficult times.”
But Commissioner for Children and Young People, Bernie Geary, said it was important to wait until the Royal Commission finished its work. “You can’t be putting recommendations into practice when they fall into each other. I would urge people to be patient.”
The Committee recommended the Victorian government consider (items in bold have been implemented already):
1. Making it a crime to fail to report a serious indictable offence involving the abuse of a child
2. Making it a crime for organisations that undertake “relevant wanton or reckless behaviour” regarding known child abuse risks
3. Creating a criminal offence of grooming
4. Requiring publicly-funded or tax-exempt non-government organisations to be incorporated and adequately insured
5. Work with the Australian Government to require organisations that engage with children to adopt incorporated legal structures
6. Excluding criminal child abuse from the statute of limitations
7. Law reforms to specify there are no time limits on institutional child abuse victims’ applications for assistance
8. Reforms to ensure organisations have a legal duty to take reasonable care to prevent criminal child abuse
9. Review the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal’s ability to implement a specific scheme for child abuse victims
10. Authorise an independent body to monitor organisations' handling of child abuse allegations
11. Review the Department of Education's procedures for responding to child abuse allegations in all Victorian schools
12. Clarify requirements to ensure religious ministers have a current Working with Children check and create a system for montoring them
13. Review its funding arrangements with education and community service organisations that work with children to ensure they have a minimum standard for ensuring a child-safe environment
14. Identify an effective approach for supporting peak bodies to build preventative measures in child sectors
15. Ensure that non-government organisations are equipped with high quality information about preventing child abuse