Institutional Abuse Law


Decades of unjust laws and practices in Australia meant that powerful institutions such as Church bodies, schools and governments could not be held accountable for the heinous sex and other crimes committed against children under their care. 

It was the bravery and campaigning of victims and their families that brought about the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into institutional child abuse and then the national Royal Commission which ran for five years.

Recommendations from these inquiries have resulted in multiple reforms to our laws. 

In Australia, there were two major legal impediments that prevented a victim from suing an institution for the harm caused by child sexual abuse.

First, there was a time limit within which a victim had to sue an institution. These ‘Statutes of Limitations’ around the country meant that if a victim hadn’t tried to sue the offending institution within the limitation period, approximately six years after the sex crimes were committed, then it was too late. That is, one was considered to be ‘out of time’. 

>> Read here. The Abolition of the Statute of Limitations for Historical Child Sexual Abuse Cases.

The second major legal barrier was commonly known as the Ellis Defence. This meant there was no legal entity for the church that could be sued for historical institutional child abuse.

>> Read here. The Abolition of the Ellis Defence.

 

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