Submissions published for police and prosecution responses issues paper

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
October 21, 2015

http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2015-10/submissions-published-for-police-and-prosecution-r

The Royal Commission has published 24 submissions from organisations and those with professional experience in response to its issues paper on police and prosecution responses to institutional child sexual abuse.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the responses reflected the importance the community places on issues of criminal justice.

“In particular, the submissions indicate the community’s concern over institutional failures in reporting, investigating and responding to allegations and incidents of abuse,” he said.

“We’ve received submissions from a range of organisations including advocacy groups, the legal fraternity and agencies representing young people, people with disability and victims of crime.

“We have also received a number of submissions from individuals giving details of their personal experiences of police and prosecution responses to institutional child sexual abuse.

“We are reviewing these submissions for privacy and procedural fairness concerns, and they are not being published at this stage.”

Mr Reed said the Royal Commission’s terms of reference require it to look into what governments should do to address or alleviate the impact of past and future child sexual abuse in institutional contexts.

“This includes in ensuring justice for victims through processes for referral for investigation and prosecution,” he said.

Mr Reed said all of the submissions to the issues paper will be considered along with research the Royal Commission has commissioned on this topic, as well as relevant case studies and the personal experiences shared by survivors of abuse in private sessions.

Mr Reed thanked everyone who made a submission to this issues paper.

“These submissions will be invaluable in informing our work on criminal justice.”

The Issues Paper, released in May, sought people’s experiences of

• reporting institutional child sexual abuse to police
• how police responded to the report
• the police investigation process
• interacting with prosecutors, if charges were laid
• preparation for court and
• the trial and any sentencing or appeal processes.

Submissions to Issues Paper 8, Experience of police and prosecution responses, can be found on the Royal Commission website.