Wednesday, 5 March 2025

Child sexual abuse

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:31): (1478) My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is for vicarious liability laws to be reformed as a matter of urgency in response to the recent High Court decision of Bird v. DP. This decision held that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat could not be held vicariously liable for known historical child sexual abuse, because Fr Coffey was not an employee. For many survivors of historical child sexual abuse committed in the church or other non-employment settings like foster care and Scouts, this decision limits their ability to access justice.

I would like to share a handful of the many stories of victim-survivors who have attempted to access justice. These cases have been graciously shared with me by members of the Australian Lawyers Alliance who represent victim-survivors of sexual abuse. In one case a schoolboy at a religious boarding school was physically and sexually abused by several of his teachers who were priests in the religious order that ran the school. In another, it was a youth volunteer at a railway organisation who was sexually abused by a train driver who was supposed to be overseeing his volunteering. There is an attendee at a church Sunday school who was sexually abused by a senior member of the church on one of their excursions. And there is a youth member of the guides association who was sexually abused by her guide leader at an event run by the organisation. Through no fault of their own, these victim-survivors have been denied equal and proper access to justice, simply because their perpetrator was technically not an employee.

When I put a question without notice to your predecessor on this issue late last year, I was encouraged by their response. They recognised the need for reform and advised that they had been tasked with bringing material back to the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in February this year. In the meantime I introduced the Wrongs Amendment (Vicarious Liability) Bill 2025. While this bill is yet to be second read, I am currently consulting with stakeholders to ensure it will allow victim-survivors to access justice. Thank you to all of those who have reached out to offer their invaluable support. So I ask: will the Attorney-General commit to reforming vicarious liability laws as a matter of urgency and consider supporting my bill when it is debated?