The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse (Royal Commission) has been extended for two years. The Final Report of the Royal Commission will now be due by 14 December 2017, instead of the original date of 31 December 2015.

The extension was foreshadowed in the Royal Commission’s Interim Report.

The extra $128.8 million allocated for this extension brings the total budget to approximately $500 million, and will allow the Royal Commission to:

• hold 3,000 additional private sessions, making a total of 7,000;
• hold an additional 30 public hearings, making a total of 70;
• ‘fully explore’ claims of systematic failures by institutions;
• identify the ’best practice’ for reporting and responding to child abuse; and
• identify what institutions and governments should do for victims.

The increase in funding, representing about a third of the original budget, will allow the Royal Commission to approximately double the number its public and private hearings. The Royal Commission previously indicated that at least 1,000 witnesses (with more expected to apply) would not be able to be accommodated under current funding.

The Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, told the Senate that ‘given the importance of the Royal Commission’s work, the outlay is justified’. When asked about the importance of extending the Royal Commission, Senator Brandis said ‘the Royal Commission’s work is of the utmost public importance. For decades, the victims of many heinous offences were silenced, their pain was minimised and the harm to them went unacknowledged… There is more that needs to be learned’.

The Gillard Government established the Royal Commission in January 2013. It was conceived against a background of many reports and inquiries by the States, including in WA, VIC, QLD and NSW. The establishment of a national inquiry recognises the wide scope of the task of looking into institutional child abuse.

Stakeholders will no doubt look forward to the future work of the Royal Commission. However, the unfortunate consequence of this announcement is that stakeholders will need to wait until 2017 for the Final Report, meaning that in the interim, more stringent child protection regulations will not be in place. In the meantime however, States such as Victoria have already moved ahead with child protection reform. South Australia has also announced an Inquiry into some of its institutions. Given that the Interim Report has clearly set out the shape of the reforms to come, Institutions and State Governments should be on notice of what is to come.

The inquiry is headed by the Hon Justice Peter McLellan AM, a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW, and five other commissioners. Its website is a useful resource, and very accessible.