Nsw Election 2015: Greens Announce Plan to Toughen Child Sex Abuse Laws

ABC News
March 19, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/nsw-election/6332620

PHOTO: Greens MP David Shoebridge says a three-point reform package will be introduced into NSW Parliament to crack down on child sex abuse. (ABC: TV News)

Thousands of child sex abuse victims would benefit from tougher laws to make it easier for them to seek justice from their abusers, the New South Wales Greens said as part of their election campaign.

The Greens announced a plan to reform legislation so victims could seek compensation more easily and lodge civil claims years after the abuse.

The reforms would also permit judges to impose tougher sentences.

The three-point plan also included preventing churches from hiding their money in trust funds.

Greens MP David Shoebridge said the reforms were similar to measures being introduced in Victoria and some countries overseas.

"When you put the three reforms together, we're talking about generational legal reform that will ensure that victims and survivors, and thousands and thousands of them, get justice in both the civil courts and in the criminal courts," Mr Shoebridge said.

"The longer the Royal Commission continues, the more stories we're hearing and the more victims [that] we need to help."

The reforms, if enacted, would remove a three year limit on victims filing a claim in the courts once they are adults.

Greens looking for unanimous support from Parliament

The changes would also allow judges to impose sentences more in line with current values, rather than have to comply with sentencing laws relevant at the time of the offence.

The measures would also make it harder for institutions such as the Catholic Church to hide its assets in trusts to avoid paying compensation.

Mr Shoebridge said he hoped the reforms would have unanimous support in the NSW Parliament.

"Each of these reforms is essential to deliver justice and taken together as a package, as a Parliament if we pass these laws we can genuinely provide a generational reform that will see [a benefit to] thousands of victims," Mr Shoebridge said

"Case after case has come out of the Royal Commission involving the criminal sexual abuse of children dating as far back as the 1950s, and it's not enough to just wring our hands and say 'we'll try harder in the future'.

"Those children are now adult survivors of child abuse, and their path to justice is still strewn with obstacles.

"We can and should change the law going forward, but there are barriers facing victims of past child abuse that must be removed to deliver justice now."