Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

To move:

That the following matters be referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 14 April 2012:

  (a)   the need for national law reform surrounding evidence relating to child sex abuse, specifically looking at the role federal laws could play in requiring documents relating to child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse, to be held for a minimum of 30 years;

  (b)   the need for national law reform to prevent the destruction and concealment of documents which should be retained in the public interest, including documents in relation to potential legal proceedings;

  (c)   the circumstances under which documents should be categorised as Cabinet-in-Confidence;

  (d)   the appropriateness or otherwise of victims of child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse, being required to sign confidentiality agreements as part of any compensation arrangements and the need for any consequential law reform;

  (e)   in relation to events relating to allegations of abuse in the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre in Queensland from 1988:

     (i)   the shredding of documents by the then-Queensland Government in 1990 relating to the alleged rape of a resident at the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre in 1988, and other abuses and the implications these actions had on the ability of victims and others to pursue their legal rights with reference to section 129 of the Queensland Criminal Code, and the need for a national approach to the protection of such documents,

     (ii)   previous Queensland Government initiated inquiries and federal parliamentary inquiries into the matters referred to at the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre,

     (iii)   whether evidence provided to previous Senate committee inquiries about the shredding of the documents referred to was misleading, or whether evidence was withheld from previous Senate committee inquiries and whether there is any new evidence relating to these matters, and

     (iv)   the relevance of considering the matters raised in paragraphs (a) to (d); and

  (f)   any other related matters.