AUSTRALIA
PerthNow
Gary Adshead, PerthNow
January 21, 2017
EVEN after the ups and downs, which inevitably come with eight years in power, the Barnett Government hopefully learnt a lesson the hard way this week.
It managed to turn an immensely worthy cause – something it could have taken the lead on to have enshrined in law – and relegated it to just another election promise.
The issue is child sexual abuse and the existing statute of limitations that prevents victims from taking civil action against the perpetrator or an institution.
As it stands the victim, regardless of how old they were when abused, has only six years from the time of the crime to lodge a civil case.
Simply put, if a boy or girl aged six, for example, were traumatised by a paedophile employed by a church or government agency, then they must have filed a writ in the court against the institution by the time they reach the age of 12.
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