Outlining the government’s detailed response the Prime Minister said Western Australia had now agreed to sign on to the national redress scheme so there will be a fully national scheme from July 1.
Archbishop Philip Wilson leaves Newcastle Local Court after being found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse.
AAP/Peter Lorimer
A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals grim detail on the breadth of child abuse in Australia. But crucial national data on abuse in out-of-home care remains elusive.
No other government redress scheme has included children who were abused both in care and not in care.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The Parramatta Female Factory has been identified as a site of abuse by the royal commission. Now a community-led campaign is transforming it into a ‘site of conscience’.
The royal commission has performed its task with distinction – now it is up to governments and institutions to ensure those efforts are matched with a redress scheme.
The royal commission has presented a socially and historically contextualised understanding of child sexual abuse.
AAP/Lukas Coch
By placing institutional abuse within its larger context, the royal commission has made the prevention and identification of child sex offending a collective responsibility.
In light of the church’s catastrophic failures of care, documented in this report, its survival as a public institution is dependent on responding adequately to this historic commission.
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The government’s proposed redress scheme for victims of institutional child sexual abuse controversially excludes some victims.
Repression is a defensive process where the mind forgets or places events, thoughts and memories we cannot acknowledge or bear elsewhere.
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Dissociative identity disorder - previously known as multiple personality disorder - occurs when a child’s development is disrupted by trauma, preventing them forming a strong sense of self.
Leaders are responsible for the culture and specific practices of their organisation, and they can do much to reduce the risk of child sexual abuse.
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‘Suitability’ checks in organisations are important but have limitations in screening out child sex offenders. Leaders need to change how they approach the issue.
Of the institutional categories employed by the royal commission, educational institutions were the second most represented.
John Whelen
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has demonstrated how catastrophically some teachers have failed their duties - a pledge is one way to turn that around.
Debates over whether priests should break the confessional seal if they hear reports of abuse in confession are largely symbolic.
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Anthony Foster’s attention to detail and his clarity about the evil perpetrated in the systematic institutional abuse of children was often the object of media analysis.
Will abusers still be able to move to a new service and continue abusing under the NDIS?
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We know predators will continue to target the vulnerable, including children and people with disability. The NDIS will mitigate some of the issues in this space, but we need a royal commission too.
Clergy must abide by strict new rules governing their relationships.
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