Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of this excellent motion, moved by my good friend the member for Herbert. It should be the first job of any Australian government to protect its citizens, and paramount in that objective needs to be the protection of our most vulnerable citizens, particularly our nation's children. It is an unfortunate fact that we live in a society where our children are under threat from criminals who seek to do them harm. As the motion states, there were a staggering 18,925 victims-survivors of child sexual assault reported in Australia in 2021. Federal and state governments have been engaged for many decades in the fight to bring these predators to justice and in undertaking other initiatives aimed at minimising this threat. However, when we are faced with these confronting statistics, and in recognising that behind every number is an innocent young life that has been horrendously violated, we must ask an important question: what else can we do to empower Australians with the information that they need to protect their families?

The member for Fisher mentioned the horrific case of Daniel Morcombe, and the parents of Daniel Morcombe know this nightmare all too well. They have long campaigned for a national register for sex offenders to be established, to provide the community with greater protection against these heinous offenders. We aren't suggesting that a national register will prevent all offending. A lot of the previous speakers have mentioned that most of the offending that takes place in Australia is done by individuals who are known to the victim. But it will give families some information on known local offenders that could be utilised to minimise risk. It will give schools, community groups and sporting organisations the information that they need to better ensure the safety of the children entrusted to their care. By having the identities, offences and postcodes of convicted child sex offenders publicly available, parents could determine if anyone who interacts with their child is a convicted offender and so make informed decisions on their children's movements and have a heightened vigilance as to the known threats that may be present in their daily lives and routines. As the father of young children, I see this as a concept that has considerable merit, and I know that a vast, vast majority of the Redlands community that I represent in this building share my enthusiasm for it. Anything that can be done to help shine a light on those who seek to dwell in the shadows is worthy of strong consideration from government.

Where it related to child sex offences committed against federal law, the former coalition government made the tough calls. The coalition implemented mandatory minimum sentencing and other measures for child sex offenders, through the passing of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill, back in 2019. The motion rightfully acknowledges this as a move worthy of the House's praise. In 2021, the coalition also launched the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse, a 10-year, whole-of-nation, first-of-its-kind framework which targets sexual abuse. This included an initial $307 million investment to implement that strategy. The first phase of the strategy saw funding for the first national action plan, which included important initiatives, such as $18 million to implement the National Victim Identification Framework, $22.3 million to deliver national awareness-raising campaigns and $24 million to strengthen the Commonwealth's capacity to prosecute child sexual abuse offenders. It was the now opposition leader who established the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, which has made a real difference, with almost 700 arrests and more than 6,000 charges laid since 2018.

This motion calls on the federal government to take this good work to the next level. It calls on the government to implement, in conjunction with state and territory governments, a national child sex-offender register. The federal coalition committed $8 million in 2019 to advance a national register but encountered strong opposition from the states and territories. To establish a national register, of course, the Commonwealth needs law and policy reforms from all jurisdictions. I should give a shout out to Western Australia, which is the only jurisdiction where people can apply to access information on their child sex offender register. If a national register could save one child from being offended against, I think it's something worthy of consideration.

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