Child Sex Abuse Victims "Retraumatised" by Counselling Services, Royal Commission Hears

By Paul Bibby
Sydney Morning Herald
March 26, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/child-sex-abuse-victims-retraumatised-by-counselling-services-royal-commission-hears-20150327-1m8e9w.html

Francis Sullivan, head of the Catholic Church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council, is among those disappointed at the federal government's lack of support for a national redress scheme. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Victims of child sexual abuse are being "retraumatised" by inadequate Medicare-funded counselling services that are plagued by a shortage of properly trained practitioners, the Australian Psychological Society has told the royal commission.

As the commission continued to examine the issue of redress for victims on Thursday, the Psychological Society's executive manager of professional practice, Louise Roufeil, said the maximum of 10 private counselling sessions provided for people with mental health issues under Medicare were nowhere near sufficient to support abuse victims.

Commencing a therapeutic relationship with a survivor and offering hope and then not being able to carry the treatment to fruition represents a failure again for the survivors.

Louise Roufeil, executive manager of the Psychological Society.

"Commencing a therapeutic relationship with a survivor and offering hope and then not being able to carry the treatment to fruition represents a failure again for the survivors," Dr Roufeil told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

"The treatment response is itself retraumatising. This cannot be allowed to continue."

Dr Roufeil said there were very few counselling services in the country which had practitioners who were properly trained in assisting victims of child sexual abuse.

"There is an issue of survivors struggling to find practitioners who have the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to work in an effective and respectful manner and there are simply not enough services that can provide effective clinical care," she said.

"Specialist services are overburdened and cannot prioritise adult survivors."

She joined with the head of the Australian Association of Social Workers, Gladys Wilkinson, in arguing strenuously that rather than setting up a new body to provide counselling and support, a substantial expansion of the existing system was needed.

This put them in direct opposition to the federal government which has told the commission it does not support an expansion of the public provision of counselling and psychological care.

"We believe the Medicare system is an excellent platform on which to build this new service system," Ms Wilkinson said.

"We don't need a new system. We have people already working in that system."

Earlier, the Catholic church joined with victims' advocates in expressing disappointment at the federal government's lack of support for a national redress scheme.

"It is surprising to say the least that the Commonwealth government initiated the calling of the royal commission and yet the government has so quickly discounted itself from one of the most fundamental issues we have to address," the chief executive of the church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council, Francis Sullivan, said.

"You would think that any government that was setting up a royal commission of this nature would know that a redress scheme would be one option."

The federal government stated in its submission to the commission that a national scheme would be too complex, time-consuming and costly.

Mr Sullivan said the church supported a national scheme with a cap on compensation of $150,000, and a limitation period of 25 years for abuse victims to come forward, taken from the time of their 18th birthday.

The hearing continues.