Alison Penfold (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (The Survivors Law) Bill 2026. I came to this parliament to help make Australia a better place and to stand up for people facing injustice, especially those who too often feel invisible, unheard or left behind by the system. This bill is one of those moments where I can play a very direct role in this parliament to genuinely change lives for the better.

Today we have a chance to fix a serious injustice that has hurt survivors of child sexual abuse for far too long. For years, convicted offenders have been able to avoid paying court ordered compensation to their victims simply by declaring bankruptcy and shielding assets through superannuation laws. That is simply wrong. For survivors, it can feel like being failed by the system all over again—not just once through the abuse they suffered but again by a legal system that allows offenders to escape accountability.

This issue was brought directly to me by one of my constituents, Carolyn Kelly, a strong, determined and deeply compassionate woman who refused to stay silent after seeing the injustice her grandson, Edan Van Haren, experienced. Carolyn did not come to me asking for sympathy; she came asking for justice. She has fought tirelessly, not just for her grandson but for survivors right across Australia, who deserve fairness, dignity and recognition. After meeting with Carolyn in my office in Wauchope and hearing Edan's story, it became immediately clear to me that the law needed to change, particularly when it was obvious there were already many other legal precedents where certain debts survive bankruptcy. Child support debts survive bankruptcy, certain fraud related debts survive bankruptcy and some debts owed to the government survive bankruptcy. So how could it possibly be the case that compensation owed by a convicted paedophile to their victim could simply disappear? That made no moral sense, and, frankly, it made no common sense either. So I took the issue directly to the minister. I advocated strongly for reform, through parliamentary speeches and through a submission to the government's discussion paper on the exposure draft to this bill.

Today I want to sincerely acknowledge and thank the Assistant Treasurer and the government for listening, for engaging seriously with this issue and for acting. In this place, difficult reforms can sometimes take years to progress. When governments are prepared to genuinely listen to survivors and opposition members, and to respond constructively—that certainly deserves recognition. This legislation exists because brave people refused to give up.

Edan Van Haren is a survivor of horrific abuse. Following civil proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, he was awarded compensation by the court. But the offender later declared bankruptcy from prison, effectively avoiding responsibility for paying that judgement debt. That should never have been allowed to happen. I want to acknowledge Edan's extraordinary courage in speaking publicly about his experience so that others may not have to endure the same injustice.

Edan said something incredibly powerful in a speech that I wish he could have delivered in this chamber. In it, he said:

This is not about vengeance; it's about the mechanics of healing.

Those words go to the very heart of why this legislation matters, because this debate is not really about money. No amount of money can restore a stolen childhood, no amount of money can undo years of trauma, and no court ruling can fully repair the damage caused by abuse. And, as Edan so powerfully explained, how do you even begin to quantify trauma? How do you put a monetary value on not being able to hold down a job because of PTSD? How do you quantify the panic and fear triggered by ordinary daily tasks that most people take for granted? How do you measure lost confidence, lost opportunities, broken relationships or the life someone should have had? The truth is you cannot. But compensation still matters, because compensation is about recognition. It's about accountability. It's society saying to survivors: 'We hear you and we believe you. And what happened to you was wrong.'

When the legal system allows offenders to use bankruptcy laws or protected superannuation to avoid those obligations, it sends exactly the opposite message. It tells survivors that the system still protects perpetrators more than victims. That is why this bill matters so much. The bill has two principal objectives. Firstly, it creates a mechanism to allow certain amounts held in a perpetrator's superannuation to be accessed in order to satisfy unpaid compensation orders relating to child sexual abuse offences. Secondly, it amends the Bankruptcy Act so that these compensation debts survive bankruptcy and cannot simply be wiped out. These are significant reforms.

I acknowledge this bill is legally and technically complex. It intersects with criminal law, family law, bankruptcy law, taxation law and superannuation law. There are detailed provisions dealing with competing claims, court oversight and interactions with other legal processes. I acknowledge the considerable work undertaken by officials, legal experts and ministers to bring the legislation to this point. While the legislation itself is technically complex, its moral purpose is actually very simple: if a court has ordered compensation to be paid to a survivor of child sexual abuse, the offender should not be able to evade responsibility through legal loopholes.

This legislation also recognises something important about the purpose of superannuation—superannuation exists to provide dignity and security in retirement. It was never intended to become a shield that allows perpetrators to avoid accountability for horrific crimes. As the bill itself makes clear, these powers are limited to exceptional circumstances and operate under court supervision. Put simply, you cannot commit a heinous crime and then expect to hide behind your superannuation or hide behind bankruptcy, nor should human rights arguments be distorted in ways that deny justice to survivors.

Importantly, the bill also sends a much broader message to victims-survivors across Australia. Many survivors still suffer silently. Many still struggle to trust institutions, many still feel shame for crimes committed against them and many still feel the system is not truly on their side. Edan spoke movingly about reaching a point in his life where, in his words, the pain of existing was heavier than the fear of dying. Those words should stop every one of us in our tracks because behind every statistic is a human being carrying unimaginable pain. But Edan also said something else, which speaks to remarkable courage and resilience: 'In surviving that moment, I realised—why not stay alive for the other victims?' That courage deserves the respect of this parliament and this nation. This legislation matters because it tells survivors they are not alone. It tells them their suffering matters, it tells them their accountability matters and it tells them that parliament is prepared to act.

This bill may not resolve every issue. There may well be aspects that require refinement or strengthening in the future. But the most important thing we can do today is to finally close these loopholes so offenders can no longer abuse the system to avoid paying court-ordered compensation to survivors.

I want to again acknowledge Carolyn Kelly for her determination and advocacy. I want to acknowledge all survivors who've spoken publicly and relived unimaginable trauma in pursuit of this reform. I want to acknowledge all those across government departments, advocacy organisations and the legal profession who have worked to bring this legislation forward. Most importantly, I acknowledge survivors like Edan, whose bravery has helped drive meaningful change for others. As Edan said, it's time for Australia to heal. I commend this bill to the House.

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