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Lawyers call for more states to adopt mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
Lawyers for victims of child sexual abuse have urged all states to follow the ACT's move to legislate new mandatory reporting requirements concerning child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church.
Emma Musgrave
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Maurice Blackburn has encouraged states to step up on the reporting of child sex abuse, following the ACT Legislative Assembly's move to legislate new mandatory reporting requirements on child sex abuse that include the confessional, ensuring no exemptions are made.
“The royal commission made clear that admissions of abuse made in the confessional must be reported, and the ACT assembly is to be commended for legislating to make this a reality despite the Catholic Church continuing to fiercely resist this,” said Maurice Blackburn abuse law principal Michelle James.
“In the ACT [last] week, we again saw the Catholic Church having to be dragged to meet its obligations to protect children from sexual abuse, running ludicrous arguments against why the confessional should remain exempt from mandatory reporting requirements.
“The Catholic Church maintains that it acknowledges its shameful past and is committed to doing the right thing, but its continuing resistance to accept that the confessional must be included in mandatory reporting requirements shows that it still yet to learn that the safety of children must come before obligations to the Church."
Ms James stressed that all others states “must follow the lead” of the ACT.
"If the ACT can act in taking on the Church to ensure tough laws are in place requiring mandatory reporting of child sex abuse then there is no reason that other states can’t do the same," she explained.
“State Attorneys-General are meeting ... and we would urge them to use this opportunity for a frank discussion on ensuring that mandatory reporting measures, that include the confessional, are adopted across all states as a priority.
“The Catholic Church has an appalling record when it comes to the abuse of children and for states to accept that it can be relied upon to do the right thing and thus have the confessional exempted from any mandatory reporting requirements is unacceptable."
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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