Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Behind every piece of legislation are real people whose lives have been profoundly impacted, and this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (The Survivors Law) Bill 2026, is a stark reminder of that fact. At its core, this bill responds to a simple but fundamental principle: perpetrators of child sexual abuse should not be able to use financial structures to avoid accountability. For too long, a deeply unjust loophole in our system has allowed convicted offenders to shield wealth held in superannuation while survivors have been left unpaid the compensation that courts determined was owed to them.

As the minister stated in his second reading speech, these reforms have not emerged in isolation. They are the result of a sustained advocacy from survivors, from families and from advocates who have worked for years to ensure that survivors would not be left without justice or meaningful compensation. It is because of them and for them that we are here today. This legislation takes an important step forward in addressing that injustice and ensuring that our legal and financial systems better reflect basic principles of fairness, accountability and dignity for those survivors.

This bill closes a loophole that has undermined confidence in both our financial system and our justice system. Under the current framework, survivors may successfully pursue a compensation order through the courts by enduring lengthy legal processes, having to stand up and repeat their stories again and again and again. They relive deeply traumatic experiences but may still be left without meaningful compensation, without meaningful redress, because assets remain protected inside superannuation. This needs to change, and this needs to change now.

The law should never be allowed to operate in a way that allows those who have caused profound harm to retain significant protected assets while survivors are left carrying the financial consequences of that harm as well as the emotional and personal consequences of that harm. This bill changes that. It creates a framework that allows survivors of child sexual abuse offences to seek access through a court order to certain superannuation contributions made by a perpetrator where compensation debts remain unpaid.

Importantly, this is not an unlimited or sweeping measure. The framework has been designed carefully and specifically. It applies in circumstances where there has been a criminal conviction and where compensation ordered by a court remains unpaid after a significant period of time. That matters, because reforms in this area must balance the need for justice with the integrity and stability of our superannuation system. Super exists to provide dignity and security in retirement. It is a famous Labor reform, but that principle cannot be distorted into a shield against accountability for serious criminal harm.

This legislation recognises that financial systems should reflect community values and basic fairness. When this bill is passed, they will. One of the most important ideas underpinning this bill is that justice cannot stop at conviction alone. Nothing can stop the horrific experiences of survivors. But what we can do is listen to their experiences, understand what they need and take action.

There is a growing recognition in our community that accountability is not only about securing a guilty verdict; it is also about ensuring meaningful redress for victims-survivors. For many survivors, the impacts of abuse do not end when criminal proceedings conclude. Child sexual abuse leaves deep and lifelong scars. Survivors often carry the effects of those scars into their adulthood, affecting their mental health, physical wellbeing, relationships, education, employment and financial security.

The trauma does not simply disappear with the passing of time. Many survivors continue navigating its impacts day in and day out, often quietly and without adequate support. For some survivors, the harm is not only emotional and psychological but deeply material as well. Some face barriers to stable employment and financial security directly connected to the abuse that they experienced. When compensation orders remain unpaid, it compounds that harm. It sends a message, whether intended or not, that the burden continues to fall on those who were harmed rather than those who caused the harm. It flips the accountability switch, and this legislation is intended to put it right. This bill seeks to rebalance that inequity. It recognises that compensation orders are not symbolic; they need to mean something and they need to be real. They are intended to provide real acknowledgement, real accountability and some measure of justice.

Another important feature of this legislation is the amendment to bankruptcy laws to ensure compensation debts can survive bankruptcy proceedings. This is a significant reform. Bankruptcy exists for important reasons within our legal and our economic systems. But bankruptcy should never become a mechanism through which perpetrators can escape responsibility for causing serious harm to others. This bill sends a clear and necessary message: financial manoeuvring must not override moral and legal accountability in a fair system in this country. Where compensation has been ordered because of the devastating impacts of child sexual abuse, those debts should not simply disappear through bankruptcy while survivors continue living through the consequences.

Again, this reform is about restoring balance, and it's about restoring fairness to the system. It is about ensuring that the law does not inadvertently protect perpetrators while leaving survivors without recourse. As I stated at the beginning of this speech, these reforms have not emerged in isolation. They are the result of sustained advocacy from survivors, from their families, from legal experts and from organisations that have worked tirelessly to expose where the system has fallen short. Many survivors who advocate for reform do so while carrying extraordinary personal pain, and the courage it takes to come forward, often years after the abuse occurred, can never be overstated. Many victims-survivors have spent years and in some cases decades seeking accountability and recognition through systems that too often compounded their trauma rather than eased it. They have had to repeatedly revisit traumatic experiences in pursuit of justice, knowing outcomes were never guaranteed. That takes enormous strength. It takes enormous tenacity.

And this parliament has a responsibility not only to listen to survivors but to act when the system is failing. When survivors tell us that a loophole is allowing perpetrators to avoid accountability, we should take that seriously. This legislation reflects that listening, but it also reflects what happens and what must happen after that listening, which is action to make sure that that listening is not in vain. It reflects the understanding that lived experience must be central to policy development and to reform in this area. These are technically complex reforms. Superannuation law and bankruptcy law are highly specialised areas. Any changes must be carefully designed to ensure that they are enforceable, workable and consistent with broader legal concepts. This bill adopts a targeted approach. It focuses specifically on circumstances involving criminal convictions for child sexual abuse offences and unpaid compensation orders. That targeted design is important because it demonstrates that the government has sought to address a serious injustice while maintaining confidence in the broader superannuation framework.

The bill also includes a review mechanism once the reforms are in operation, and this is critical because legislation like this should not simply pass through parliament and then be forgotten. It needs to have teeth, and it needs to mean something. We have an obligation to ensure these measures are working effectively for survivors in practice. Reviewing the operation of the reforms provides an opportunity to identify whether barriers remain and whether further changes may be necessary in the future.

Listening to the experiences of survivors does not stop at the passing of this legislation. It has to continue. We need to ensure that these laws work for the people that they are intended for.

Superannuation is one of Labor's proudest legacies. It reflects the long-term and responsible view that Labor took all those many years ago of Australians' future: every Australian deserves the dignity and security of an independent retirement after a lifetime of hard work. Over more than three decades, our superannuation system has strengthened retirement incomes. It has reduced pressure on the age pension. It has helped deliver greater security and peace of mind for millions and millions of Australians.

But the purpose of superannuation was never to shield predators from accountability. This bill ensures that those convicted of the most serious offences cannot exploit protections within that superannuation system to avoid paying compensation that courts have determined are owed to victims-survivors. In doing so, it protects both the integrity of the system and the principles of fairness and accountability that must always underpin it.

This bill should also be understood as part of a broader journey of reform. It is a significant and necessary foundation. It closes a clear loophole, it sends a strong signal about the direction of reform and it establishes a framework that can be built upon in the future if additional changes are required. Importantly, it also acknowledges something many survivors have told us for years: justice systems and financial systems cannot operate separately from human consequences. When perpetrators retain substantial protected assets while survivors struggle financially, confidence in those systems is undermined—and confidence in those systems is important for every Australian, particularly those who've experienced the hurt that we are talking about today.

People rightly expect our laws to reflect fairness, to reflect accountability and to reflect community standards. This legislation moves us closer to that. At the beginning of my remarks, I spoke about the seriousness and sensitivity of this debate. I also spoke about the survivors and the advocates whose persistence has brought this issue to this place and before the parliament. This bill will not undo the harm survivors have experienced—no legislation can. But it's an important step in the right direction.

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