Page 3083 - Week 08 - Thursday, 16 August 2018
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serve our most vulnerable members of society. Women, families and people experiencing disadvantage face the greatest risks of harm and they are our first priority. Our law reform program this year reflects that priority.
We have introduced legislation to support survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward and have their abusers prosecuted. We have engaged across the community in developing our response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. We accepted or accepted in principle 290 recommendations out of 307. No recommendations were rejected. The laws that are currently under development, including new crimes for failure to protect children and failure to report abuse, will enhance the ability of our justice system to hold people and institutions accountable.
This government has also introduced, and the Assembly has passed, legislation to expand circle sentencing to the Children’s Court. The Warrumbul Court will begin hearing sentencing matters later this year, and that is an expression of our commitment to ensuring that our criminal justice system is fair and is also culturally sensitive.
We have worked strongly with other jurisdictions to implement the national redress scheme to enable all survivors to be supported so that they can restore and rebuild their lives. I note, as part of the scheme, the power that comes with an apology from those who have done wrong to those who have been wronged.
These measures are just a few of the key examples of our work to make sure that the justice system is more accessible and focuses first on helping those who are most vulnerable.
MS CHEYNE: Attorney, how will the appointment of our eighth magistrate support access to justice?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Ms Cheyne for the supplementary question. The government has funded the appointment of an eighth magistrate as a direct way of making our justice system more timely, more accessible and more transparent. More resourcing for that court means that matters can be resolved more quickly, which reduces the stress of ongoing court matters on people who are impacted by crime.
I was very pleased to announce recently the successful applicant for this new position, Ms Louise Taylor. She has over 15 years of experience as a lawyer in the ACT, including specialist experience as a prosecutor in criminal law. This has included experience in the offices of both the commonwealth and the ACT directors for public prosecutions and has involved oversight of the ACT’s family violence intervention program. As the Deputy CEO of Legal Aid ACT since 2014, Ms Taylor has had direct management of the Legal Aid Commission’s litigation practice, specifically in the areas of family and criminal law.
Ms Taylor will also be the ACT’s first Aboriginal judicial officer. Hers is an historic achievement for our justice system. I look forward to welcoming Ms Taylor to the
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