TURNBULL TO DELIVER NATIONAL APOLOGY FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Melissa Davey
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to deliver a national apology to the survivors, victims and families of institutional child sexual abuse and said his government has so far accepted 104 of the 122 recommendations made by the royal commission.
The prime minister made the announcement in Canberra on Wednesday, June 13, with the deadline for the government to respond to the royal commission’s findings set for June 30. The remaining 18 recommendations from the royal commission are still under consideration, he said.
Turnbull will deliver the national apology on 22 October to coincide with national children’s week.
The government will also create a national office for child safety commencing on 1 July, which was a key recommendation from the royal commission. A commonwealth child safety framework was being developed, and child safety checks would also be nationalised, Turnbull said.
There were 409 recommendations made by the commission when it delivered its findings in December, with 122 of those directly or partly involving the federal government.
“It’s been harrowing work,” Turnbull said. “And the compassion and the respect shown by the royal commissioners and their staff for this process has set us on a pathway to real change. Now that we’ve uncovered the shocking truth, we must do everything in our power to honour the bravery of the thousands of people who came forward.”
A national prevalence study will also be conducted through the national office for child safety to better understand the scale of child sexual abuse. A task force has also been established to track the progress made by the federal, state and territory governments in meeting the royal commission’s recommendations. The task force will remain in place until 2020 and will report annually in December until 2022 with a commitment to conduct a 10-year review in 2027.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/13/turnbull-to-deliver-national-apology-for-child-sexual-abuse
