Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's important to me to rise here today and speak in relation to the National Redress Scheme. Whilst the bill before us deals with technical and administrative amendments, I take any opportunity to stand in this place to highlight these issues. It is also a fitting opportunity to acknowledge an amazing young Tasmanian woman whose name I have spoken in this place several times in the past year and whom most of the country now knows: Grace Tame, survivor, fearless advocate and now Tasmania's first ever Australian of the Year. This esteemed award is in recognition of Grace's courageous work through her Let Her Speak campaign, which led to the Tasmanian government finally overturning outdated laws barring survivors of sexual abuse from telling their own story. Grace delivered a fierce and frank speech upon receiving her award. Using a national platform to tell her story is incredibly powerful. Importantly, voices like Grace's speak to why the National Redress Scheme is so important. For the information of the House, I'd like to share an extract from her speech:

All survivors of child sexual abuse, this is for us. I lost my virginity to a paedophile. I was 15, anorexic; he was 58. He was my teacher. For months he groomed me and then abused me almost every day. Before school, after school, in my uniform, on the floor. I didn't know who I was. Publicly he described his crimes as 'awesome' and 'enviable'. Publicly I was silenced by law. Not anymore.

Australia, we've come a long way, but there's still more work to do in a lot of areas. Child sexual abuse and cultures that enable it still exist. Grooming and its lasting impacts are not widely understood. Predators manipulate all of us: family, friends, colleagues, strangers; in every class, culture and community. They thrive when we fight amongst ourselves and weaponise all of our vulnerabilities. Trauma does not discriminate, nor does it end when the abuse itself does. First Nations people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI community and other marginalised groups face even greater barriers to justice. Every voice matters.

Just as the impacts of evil are borne by all of us, so too are solutions borne of all of us.

Grace's words are so important. As a survivor of child sexual abuse myself, I can attest to the empowerment that comes from hearing the stories of other survivors: the hope for a future beyond what happened to you, and the relief in the realisation that the shame is not yours to carry.

It's because of survivors like Grace and thousands and thousands of other brave Australians who have come forward in recent years—be it through the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse or by perpetrators being taken to court or by survivors telling someone for the very first time about the abuse they suffered—that we are starting to lift the cloak of secrecy and silence that has protected perpetrators for so long. Some 17,000 survivors came forward to the royal commission, and nearly 8,000 of these survivors recounted their abuse in the commission's private sessions. It's an astounding statistic. But there are so many more who still suffer in silence. So much work has been done over the past few years to begin to bring these stories out of the shadows, but, as Grace herself said, there is still so much more to be done; this is just the beginning.

Those in positions of trust were protected and enabled to abuse children by the level of trust that families and communities had in these institutions. The government has worked tirelessly to ensure that these institutions are held accountable. Over the past two years, the scheme has secured the participation of all states and territories, and, as at 18 September 2020, 272 non-government institutions are participating in the scheme. This means that the scheme now covers over 52,000 sites across Australia. In addition, over 3,600 payments totalling approximately $298 million have been paid to survivors to date.

But I acknowledge that the road has not been smooth, and I want to acknowledge the pain felt by survivors who have faced further difficulty and distress in accessing the scheme, which first rolled out in 2018. I know that Minister Ruston has worked incredibly hard to ensure improvements are made to assist a smoother process for survivors. Our government is committed to supporting survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, and the amendments contained in the bill will address the minor and technical issues, including potential unintended barriers to scheme efficiency with the current redress operation. The changes will enhance the operational efficiency of the scheme, which will be beneficial for survivors but, importantly, do not adversely impact redress outcomes for survivors. The amendments play an integral role in ensuring that there is a clearer path to appropriately compensating survivors, who have suffered unimaginable horrors in our many institutions for far too long. Compensation does not take away the pain a survivor has suffered. It does, however, send a message that what happened matters. We recognise your pain. We hear you and we believe you.

To the institutions yet to join the scheme: shame on you. As Minister Ruston has said, it is completely unacceptable for named institutions to refuse to accept their moral obligation and responsibility to acknowledge the wrongs committed. I fully support our government's plans to strip organisations of their charitable status if they fail to join the scheme. You have been protected for far too long, and your days of avoiding consequences are coming to an end.

In closing, I'd like to say that, as important as the National Redress Scheme is, it's not the only thing we could do and it's not the only thing we should do. Our responses to the issue of child sexual abuse must go further. We must make greater efforts to prevent abuse from happening in the first place and we must have a more holistic approach to recognising and addressing trauma to mitigate the lifelong damage caused to victim-survivors.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge that, when we talk about these things, as we so often do, and as has been highlighted by Grace Tame becoming Australian of the Year, it can be very difficult for survivors and it speaks to the ongoing trauma that the member for Barton acknowledged in her words. To anybody who's feeling that way, I would encourage you to reach out to a sexual assault support service in your state for some help.

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