Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Bill 2018. I acknowledge the contribution made by the member for Jagajaga. It has been a journey of many years for us, not only on the redress scheme but in dealing with victims of institutional sex abuse. The member for Jagajaga mentioned the work of the royal commission. She and I have heard many stories—she described them as heinous. We have heard tragic stories of things that should never occur in a civilised society. We have heard enormous stories about abuse in all manners and forms. The commission has listened to four or five years of that. I take my hat off to them and acknowledge their contribution to the legislation before the parliament today.

The member for Jagajaga was quite emotional during her speech—and I join with her and that. Jenny, I would like to come over and give you a hug—as we have done with many CLAN people over the years whom we have dealt with on this issue. I feel your lifelong passion in this parliament towards this achievement that is coming out today. When I leave this place, if I could talk about only one thing it would be the efforts we have made towards getting where we are today. I think both sides of the parliament need to be congratulated. There has been an effort from many of us to help these people.

It was 10 years ago that I delivered my maiden speech in this chamber, during which I said I wanted to draw attention to the national issue of institutional child sex abuse. As a former ward of the state, I saw it as my responsibility to champion the issues of care leavers and children who had suffered abuse in institutions across the country. For the last 10 years, I have continued to advocate for a redress scheme which would see institutions that inflicted this abuse held accountable for what they did to far too many of the nation's children.

The member for Jagajaga also mentioned in her speech that Peter McClellan had said it is a problem of our entire society. In my maiden speech, I mentioned a little girl named Shelley Ward. She wasn't in an institution but she starved to death in a home in New South Wales under the care of her own parents. We have heard the many stories about institutional child sex abuse over the last 10 years. They are often reflected in private homes around Australia as well, for which there is no form of redress at all under the system. After our achievement today, we need to look at child abuse in private homes and how the children continue to be returned to the abusers.

If there was one thing I could call for—and I know a lot of people don't agree—it would be the reintroduction of the death penalty for paedophiles and people who continually abuse children. I'm sure that won't get far, but it's a personal passion of mine.

Moving forward four years from my maiden speech, I, along with parliamentary colleagues, welcomed former Prime Minister Julia Gillard's announcement that a royal commission into institutional child sex abuse would be held—which I and a number of members on both sides of this chamber had called for. Again, the member for Jagajaga was influential in getting that over the line.

I note that the member for Maribyrnong is in the chamber. I congratulate him on his efforts. I congratulate the leaders of both sides of parliament who, during this time, have had people like me and Jenny continually knocking on their doors looking for their support for a national redress scheme. I acknowledge all the leaders. The Prime Minister has made promises about this. We all remember his speech where he uttered the words that the member for Jagajaga has just used: 'We believe you.' That was vitally important on the day of that apology.

Over the next five years, an extensive investigation into the wrongdoings of institutions was conducted. In March 2013 the Royal Commission Act was amended to allow for private sessions, the first being held in Sydney two months later. The first public hearing was held at the County Court of Victoria in April and, by June, the first issues paper was released allowing for individuals and organisations to contribute responses to the issues raised. The following April, in 2014, the first roundtable was held enabling representatives, regulators, policy experts, survivors and advocacy groups to discuss key policy issues. The interim report was released in June. Due to the scale of the evidence received, it was obvious the royal commission has only scratched the surface on this national issue. And so in September 2014, the royal commission was formally extended to December 2017—again, with the support of those opposite. The following three years saw the working-with-children checks report released, along with the redress and civil litigation report and the report on criminal justice. In March last year, the royal commission had its 57th and final public hearing. In December of 2017, the final report was presented to the Governor-General detailing the culmination of a five-year inquiry into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

I would like to share some of the facts which the previous member mentioned on the royal commission with the House, which are available on the royal commission's website. I think they give insight into the scale of the royal commission. Over the five-year inquiry, there were 42,041 calls handled, 25,964 letters received, 8,013 private sessions held, and 2,575 referrals to authorities, including to the police. That's a staggering amount of referrals. It's an indictment on that period of time in our society. The royal commission identified more than 4,000 institutions where abuse took place. It estimates that almost 20,000 survivors were sexually abused in state and territory government institutions. In addition, more than 6,500 victims who gave private evidence said more than one person had abused them.

These aren't just statistics; these are experiences of real people, real Australians who were sexually abused by the people charged with their care and protection, charged to nurture them. No child should ever experience what they did. I've said in this chamber before that I can only imagine the horrific experiences people suffered. They missed out on the joys of being raised in a loving and nurturing family home. I remember early back in the time the member for Jagajaga talked about the courage of people giving evidence and relaying their stories.

I have an institution in my electorate which looks after young ladies who have been abused either sexually, physically or who have drug issues. I arranged for some care leavers to come and tell them their stories. These young ladies were in their early 20s. They sat around and listened to the stories of the care leavers and what they had experienced. I spoke to the lady who brought them to the meeting afterwards in my office. She said they cried all the way home. These were young ladies who thought they were having issues of their own but once they heard the care leavers' stories, they had forgotten about their own problems and realised that generations have been going through abuse and troubles in our society for a long time. Again, I say 'hats off' to these people who have the courage to not only tell the member for Jagajaga and myself their stories but to then relay them to commissioners, who they have no knowledge of and no affection with or anything like that, and for their desire to tell their stories to make sure that people nationally across this great country get the redress that they deserve.

As the member for Jagajaga said, it will never fix or compensate for the problems they have had but it's the aftercare response, the necessary care and welfare—psychologically and physically—that we need to make sure we provide these people with to make sure the rest of their lives are peaceful and in a good state. No child is responsible for the circumstances in which they are born or for the reasons they were put into care. Be it financial hardship, or the breakdown of a family unit, all children should feel safe and loved. This is where we failed them as a nation.

I will put a personal touch on it. Once I realised my own story, I researched my sister, Jennifer, and found that she had been put into an institution at the same time I had been, along with my brother, Raymond. Jennifer died at the age of 12 while she was under the care of an institution. When I accessed her Victorian Human Services records and read through them, the evidence was in the paperwork that she was systematically put through foster care homes and sexually and physically abused during her time in foster care homes—not while she was in the institutions but while she was in the foster care homes. Again, that's another area we need.

I take my hat off to foster parents. I had foster parents. But there were times when that evidence was there and was ignored as well by people in the institutions.

Unfortunately, she passed away at the age of 12, and I recently found her unmarked grave. She's now got a headstone on it. It was part of her journey that she was never recognised. She was buried in a pauper's grave. I found out that my own biological mother wouldn't pay for that, so there was never a headstone on her grave.

There are many stories like that across Australia, but that is just to give you some idea. There is a lot of emotion for these people. It affects all of us. Today, bringing this legislation before the parliament will help them. It won't give them compensation. It will never fix the problems that they suffer from, but it will support them, hopefully for the rest of their lives.

The psychological, physical and emotional injuries affect the survivor, as I just said, for the rest of their life. We have learned from the evidence taken that many of the survivors have had issues in their relationships with their own children and often in their dealings with authorities, issues stemming from the abuse they were subjected to as children. We heard the member for Jagajaga mention Leonie. When Leonie contacted me to assist her with the Care Leavers Australia Network on institutional child sexual abuse, she knew that I'd spent time in an institution. She asked me about my reactions and how I dealt with certain issues that I faced in life as I travelled through my life. She said, 'This is the standard response for people who have spent time in institutions.'

Leonie, hats off to you and the work that you and Joanna have done. Leonie always rings me up and says, 'Never give in,' and she hasn't given in in the whole battle that she's been through this whole time. She's actually taking over my office in a couple of weeks to have a CLAN meeting in Perth. We said: 'We need to find a location for you. Don't send out the invite until we've found it for you.' But she sent the invite out anyway, so she's taking over my office in couple of weeks. But that's part of the journey that the member for Jagajaga and, I know, the member for Blaxland have been through. Leonie's organisation is in your electorate, and you've been along for that journey as well, so hats off to you as well.

I'll be forever grateful to the survivors who bravely gave evidence to the commission for reliving their emotional, physical and sexual abuse and trauma while telling their personal stories. Without their courage and sharing their experiences, and without their bravery in having to detail and explain their ordeals, a scheme like this would never have been established.

On 4 November 2016, the coalition government announced the Commonwealth redress scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse and on that day invited states, territories and non-government institutions to join the Commonwealth scheme to deliver redress to the survivors of these wrongs. Along with the member for Jagajaga, I hope that the final two states and the people and all the institutions get on board and come and join this redress scheme. I must say that it was a privilege for me to have been there on the day when the now Attorney-General, the former Minister for Social Services, made the announcement in my home town of Perth. I know this was a welcome announcement for my colleagues on both sides of the chamber.

Member for Jagajaga, I've put you in here. I've mentioned you a few times. It has been a privilege to work with you on this as well.

It's been a long journey to get here. It must feel like an eternity for the survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Through this journey I've had the privilege of meeting many of them. Many of them are incredible characters. Another thing that Leonie often says when she rings me up is, 'The jacks are on their way.' As a Victorian, I know who 'the jacks' are. They don't know who they are in Western Australia, but I know who they are in Victoria. The banter is still there. There have been many tears but many laughs along the way as well.

In the short time I have left, I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed, helped and assisted in getting to this point. Jenny, I heard your comments at the end of your speech. If there's any way I can assist in achieving the things which would give a better outcome for the survivors, I'll work with you on trying to achieve them. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.

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