❓ Mrs. O'Malley asks the Minister for Child Protection about the implementation of the Royal Commission's recommendations on institutional responses to child sexual abuse. The Minister outlines a threefold response focusing on redress, prevention, and effective response, highlighting child-safe standards and ongoing reporting.
AnsweredQoN 476Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
476. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the 409 recommendations of the Royal Commission
into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The state government has
accepted 93 per cent of the applicable recommendations and rejected none.
(1) Can the minister advise the house what this means in
practical terms?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on the implementation of these recommendations for
those who are concerned about child protection?
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
476. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the 409 recommendations of the Royal Commission
into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The state government has
accepted 93 per cent of the applicable recommendations and rejected none.
(1) Can the minister advise the house what this means in
practical terms?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on the implementation of these recommendations for
those who are concerned about child protection?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for this question. Again, can I acknowledge
the work of the royal commission, particularly those people who appeared before
the royal commission over the five years of its work.
(1)–(2)
Our response to this issue has been threefold. One is to recognise the abuse
that has occurred in the past, and that is why our decision to sign on to
Redress WA is an appropriate response. I acknowledge the Attorney General's
work on that. My responsibility as Minister for Child Protection is to
coordinate work in government and with the rest of the community to do all we
can to ensure that the abuse does not happen again in the future and, if it
does occur, that we respond in an immediate and effective manner. That is what
the public expects of us and many of the recommendations that the member for
Bicton referred to go to that point. I could talk about a number of issues; for
instance, how we best respond to harmful sexual behaviour amongst children, or
how we implement independent oversight mechanisms, particularly in our child
protection system. That is something I have given some thought to. Of course,
there is also the role of religious institutions and their response to the
royal commission. I think it is also worth mentioning the comments made by the
royal commission regarding child-safe standards. A lot of the community is
interested to know how we can implement and better understand how we can ensure
that there is child safety in the community, particularly amongst organisations
and institutions that we entrust with our children. As part of our response to
the royal commission, Western Australia has agreed to the development of a national
statement of child-safe principles and we will be working with other
jurisdictions on a national approach to implementation.
We call on all institutions—both
government and particularly non-government—that are engaged in child-related
work to work under those child-safe principles, because we all have a duty to
keep children safe. As I said, I think people who see the myriad institutions
and organisations that exist in our community wonder how they can have
confidence that children in their care are safe—they might be normal
sporting organisations, local arts organisations, local church groups and,
obviously, large organisations such as schools, hospitals and the like. There
are so many organisations that impact on children and the public wants to have
confidence that child-safe standards apply and some rigour exists in relation
to those standards. I think, too, there is generally a role for government to
be promoting awareness about child safety and not just thinking that it is the
role of someone else, whether it implements working with children checks or
child-safe standards in institutions, and for all of us to have an
understanding of what child safety means in our day-to-day lives. If a person
with children sends them to their friend's place for a sleepover, what
is the empowerment those children can have themselves to maximise their safety?
We will continue to work to implement the recommendations. We will report again
at the end of this year and then annually thereafter to be transparent in the
implementation of the recommendations of the royal commission and, as I said in
my statement to the Parliament, to honour the work of the royal commission and
all those who appeared before it.
the work of the royal commission, particularly those people who appeared before
the royal commission over the five years of its work.
(1)–(2)
Our response to this issue has been threefold. One is to recognise the abuse
that has occurred in the past, and that is why our decision to sign on to
Redress WA is an appropriate response. I acknowledge the Attorney General's
work on that. My responsibility as Minister for Child Protection is to
coordinate work in government and with the rest of the community to do all we
can to ensure that the abuse does not happen again in the future and, if it
does occur, that we respond in an immediate and effective manner. That is what
the public expects of us and many of the recommendations that the member for
Bicton referred to go to that point. I could talk about a number of issues; for
instance, how we best respond to harmful sexual behaviour amongst children, or
how we implement independent oversight mechanisms, particularly in our child
protection system. That is something I have given some thought to. Of course,
there is also the role of religious institutions and their response to the
royal commission. I think it is also worth mentioning the comments made by the
royal commission regarding child-safe standards. A lot of the community is
interested to know how we can implement and better understand how we can ensure
that there is child safety in the community, particularly amongst organisations
and institutions that we entrust with our children. As part of our response to
the royal commission, Western Australia has agreed to the development of a national
statement of child-safe principles and we will be working with other
jurisdictions on a national approach to implementation.
We call on all institutions—both
government and particularly non-government—that are engaged in child-related
work to work under those child-safe principles, because we all have a duty to
keep children safe. As I said, I think people who see the myriad institutions
and organisations that exist in our community wonder how they can have
confidence that children in their care are safe—they might be normal
sporting organisations, local arts organisations, local church groups and,
obviously, large organisations such as schools, hospitals and the like. There
are so many organisations that impact on children and the public wants to have
confidence that child-safe standards apply and some rigour exists in relation
to those standards. I think, too, there is generally a role for government to
be promoting awareness about child safety and not just thinking that it is the
role of someone else, whether it implements working with children checks or
child-safe standards in institutions, and for all of us to have an
understanding of what child safety means in our day-to-day lives. If a person
with children sends them to their friend's place for a sleepover, what
is the empowerment those children can have themselves to maximise their safety?
We will continue to work to implement the recommendations. We will report again
at the end of this year and then annually thereafter to be transparent in the
implementation of the recommendations of the royal commission and, as I said in
my statement to the Parliament, to honour the work of the royal commission and
all those who appeared before it.
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