A Victorian Parliamentary Committee has recommended the introduction of new criminal laws that will make it an offence for someone to conceal or not report child abuse to police.
More than a year since it commenced its Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations, the Committee tabled its report titled "Betrayal of Trust" in the Victorian Parliament this week.
The report also recommended changes to the civil litigation system to make it easier for victims of child abuse to sue organisations.
“The Committee identified that in the past non-government organisations have tended to take the approach that the responsibility for criminal child abuse in their organisation lies solely with the perpetrator of that abuse,’’ the report said.
“While it accepts the attribution of responsibility to the perpetrator, the Committee nevertheless considers that organisations should also bear responsibility in these cases,’’ it said.
Some of the key recommendations in the report included:
"The criminal abuse of children involves extremely serious breaches of the laws of our community,'' the Committee Chair, Georgie Crozier MP, said in a statement.
"When it happens in our society’s most trusted organisations, it is a betrayal beyond
comprehension. Those who engage in it, or are in positions of authority and conceal such offences, should be dealt with under the criminal law."
The Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said in a statement that the recommendations "will be considered as a matter of urgency by the Government".
The Victorian Report comes as The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said nearly 700 people nationwide had already shared their experiences with it in private sessions.
The body coordinating the Catholic Church's response to the national Royal Commission welcomed the recommendations from the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry. But it recommended the Federal, state and territory governments consider implementing a consistent national approach.