AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
December 13, 2017
By Paul Kennedy
Justice for survivors of child sexual abuse now hangs on the courage of politicians to resist religious influence and self-interest when acting on the royal commission’s recommendations, according to a ground-breaking former Victorian MP.
“It’s over to you. You are the ones directly responsible,” Ann Barker said in a message to parliamentarians across the nation.
“And if you don’t fulfil your responsibility, then I think the community of Australia — not just the victims and survivors that have gone through this whole process, but the broader community — will say to politicians, ‘No. You have a responsibility, fulfil it, and do it now’.”
After five years of public inquiries, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold its last sitting on Thursday before handing its final report to the Governor-General the following day.
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