Page 4412 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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I am even more pleased to see that there must be a ground rules hearing as a matter of course when there is a child victim or witness. In this way, there is the default entitlement to an intermediary, and a guarantee that children who are the most vulnerable do not miss out on the assistance they need to provide an accurate and reliable account of what was done to them or what they say.
Obviously, obtaining clear, accurate testimony improves the criminal justice system’s ability to deliver justice. We know that the rates of conviction for sexual abuse and sexual violence are lower than for average crime. We know that only a small minority of victims and witnesses will ever see their offender serve jail time.
We can hope that more perpetrators of these crimes will be held accountable by these amendments. It will help improve access to justice. Not only will it uphold the human right of a child or person with disability to be protected from torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; it may even contribute to lessening the profound and lifelong impacts that survivors experience, because at least they will feel they have been heard.
The bill also upholds the human right to a fair trial, which includes the interests of the victim or witness and their family, the interests of the accused, and the interests of the general public. I am hopeful this will lead to more convictions and more just convictions. For these reasons, the Greens support the bill.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, Minister for Health and Minister for Urban Renewal) (5.44): I am pleased to speak in support of the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill 2019. As Canberrans, we expect to be able to participate in our community and live our lives in safety. We also rightly expect that individuals and institutions will not cause us harm and, where illegal behaviour occurs, justice will be done. However, through the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse the community has come to hear and acknowledge the fundamental wrongs that have been committed in the past. These wrongs have caused great trauma and lasting damage to many people in our community. The government understands how important the findings of the royal commission have been and will continue to be as we seek to prevent any repeat of the enormous breach of trust perpetrated against children.
The royal commission spoke with 8,000 survivors in private sessions; received 1,000 written accounts; held 57 public hearings, during which it heard evidence about child sexual abuse within institutions from 1,200 witness over 400 days of hearings across all Australian capital cities and in several regional areas; published 59 research reports; conducted 35 policy roundtables; received extensive written submissions from stakeholders; and reviewed allegations of sexual abuse in more than 4,000 institutions.
For victims and survivors, telling their stories required great courage and determination. A number of ACT survivors gave evidence. For example, the royal commission heard evidence from the family of a six-year-old boy who was abused by
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