Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (The Survivors Law) Bill 2026. I'd like to acknowledge the moving contribution of the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, which preceded this, for giving voice to some of the victims-survivors that she spoke about earlier.

For all members of parliament, for parents like me and for anyone with children in their lives, there are few crimes more horrifying and more devastating than child sexual abuse. Of course, there is the sickening cruelty and betrayal of the act or acts themselves, which are often perpetrated by someone in a position of trust or authority. But the impacts for victims-survivors can be lifelong. Many may not be aware of or acknowledge, let alone disclose, abuse until much later in life. For survivors, the harm does not end when the abuse stops. In many cases, it follows people for years and decades afterwards. It affects mental health, relationships, education, employment, financial security and the ability to feel safe in everyday life. Victims-survivors may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self-harm and suicidality.

The reality is this issue touches far more people and families than many Australians realise. According to the Australian Child Maltreatment Study, more than one in four Australians have experienced child sexual abuse. Research shows more than one in three girls and almost one in five boys have experienced child sexual abuse in Australia. These are confronting figures. National data tells us that more than half of recorded sexual assault victims in Australia are children and teenagers under the age of 18. They are people we know. They are our neighbours, friends, colleagues and family members.

Across communities like ours, there are survivors quietly carrying trauma—raising children, working and moving forward while dealing with experiences that never fully leave them. Years can pass before somebody feels able to speak about what happened to them. Many fear they will not be believed. Many fear reliving the trauma through police investigations and court proceedings. Others carry shame and silence that was imposed on them as children by people who abused trust, power and authority. And, even when survivors do everything the system asks of them, justice can still be incomplete.

That is the problem this bill seeks to address. Too often, survivors have gone through lengthy court processes and secured compensation orders and still been unable to access the compensation they are legally owed. But in reality some offenders have been able to shield assets and avoid responsibility, including through the use of superannuation arrangements and bankruptcy processes. When I worked at the County Court of Victoria as a judge's associate, we had a case that had been in the court for years, through different legal proceedings, where the victim-survivor had successfully obtained compensation, and then, in exactly the circumstances that this bill seeks to address, the perpetrator had filed for bankruptcy. The victim-survivor had had to follow them through a number of Federal Court proceedings and then back to the county court in a way that can only be described as systems abuse. Perpetrators are causing further harm and trauma by using the justice system and by frustrating justice.

There is a saying that justice delayed is justice denied. This only talks about half the picture, because often legal processes themselves can be traumatic and gruelling. They are, of course, expensive. Sometimes victims-survivors are required to give evidence in civil proceedings in ways that they would usually be shielded from in criminal proceedings. They can consume weeks and sometimes years of people's lives, especially where proceedings are drawn out in the way that they often are by people who engage in systems abuse. After years of trauma and the stress of legal proceedings, after finally hearing a court acknowledge the harm that has been done to them, victims-survivors are still forced into further, exhausting battles simply to enforce what the justice system has already recognised. And that is why this reform matters.

This reform has been in discussion for years. In 2018, the Turnbull government announced it would legislate to allow victims of serious crimes to access a perpetrator's superannuation to satisfy compensation orders. But the legislation was never introduced, and survivors were left waiting. The Albanese Labor government is now delivering the reform survivors and advocates have been calling for for years. This bill closes a loophole that should have been closed long ago, and it helps ensure accountability has real meaning in practice, not just in principle.

This debate is about more than just financial enforcement alone. It is about whether the justice system can be weaponised by perpetrators to cause further harm to people who have already experienced immense trauma. This is in circumstances where the court has already recognised harm and a judge has awarded compensation. If survivors cannot access what is owed to them, the justice that compensation can represent is never fully realised.

This reform exists because survivors and advocates refused to let this issue disappear. It is incredible that some people can bring the hardest experience of their life and channel it into advocacy in this space and in so many other spaces where we have the privilege to meet victims-survivors who advocate around issues in this place. I want to acknowledge the extraordinary advocacy of survivors, families, lawyers and child protection organisations over many years, including organisations such as Bravehearts, Fighters against Child Abuse Australia and the Carly Ryan Foundation, alongside so many others who continued to push this issue into the national spotlight and refused to let it be ignored.

I've come into contact with some of these advocates and victims-survivors through our work in the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide. Of course, the terms of that include victims-survivors of child abuse. The fact that this inquiry seeks to investigate and reduce the risk of suicide that results from domestic, family and sexual violence reflects the real ongoing consequences of childhood sexual abuse. I'd particularly like to acknowledge a couple of victims-survivors who gave evidence before the inquiry: Connor and Camille, who spoke very powerfully and affectingly about their experiences. They will certainly inform the final outcomes of that inquiry. It is a very brave but also a generous thing that advocates do, using their time and their energy to help us in this place better understand how we can legislate to ensure that the harms that are caused to them are less likely to happen to others in the future and understand how we can close loopholes like this to make sure that the law is delivering justice.

Child sexual abuse often exists alongside family violence and coercive control, emotional abuse and financial manipulation. This bill closes a very serious loophole. It means offenders who owe court ordered compensation to survivors of child sexual abuse will no longer be able to shield certain superannuation contributions while leaving survivors unpaid. If compensation remains unpaid for more than 12 months, survivors will be able to access certain contributions made into the offender's superannuation account in order to satisfy that debt. The bill also ensures that debts cannot simply disappear through bankruptcy. That matters because bankruptcy should never become a mechanism for avoiding responsibility for serious criminal harm.

At its core, this bill says something very simple: if somebody commits profound harm against a child, they should not be able to protect their finances while survivors continue to carry the lifelong consequences of abuse. It's not about undermining the purpose of superannuation. Australians rightly value the superannuation system. But it was never intended to operate as a shield against reparations for such serious criminal conduct. It's about basic justice. People know the difference between protecting retirement savings and protecting offenders from responsibility, and this bill draws that line clearly.

What becomes very clear quickly is that abuse affects every part of somebody's life. I've met with survivors of abuse in my office, and they talk about how it can affect their confidence, their health and their stability, including economic and housing. It can affect a person's sense of safety and self-worth in everyday life. That is why this reform matters.

Frontline workers see the impacts of this every day. In my electorate of Menzies, in Manningham in Melbourne's east, organisations like Doncare community services and Eastern Community Legal Centre work every day with families facing trauma, financial stress and family violence. They understand that the effects of abuse do not simply disappear once court proceedings end. Trauma can shape a person's mental health, financial stability, relationships and employment. Recovery is often long, uneven and deeply difficult. The workers at these organisations, like Doncare, focus on recovery because they recognise that it is often a long road and that expert support is needed, often from people who have been through the same experiences.

Survivors need more than recognition of harm. They need systems that deliver practical accountability and real support. This is also why broader investment matters. Last year, the government announced $12 million in grants to support specialist and community organisations responding to child sexual abuse and harmful sexual behaviours in children. That funding means more trauma informed counselling, earlier support for vulnerable children and families and stronger frontline services in communities dealing with the long-term impacts of abuse. And, as part of the broader $80 million National Cabinet commitment to strengthen responses to family, domestic and sexual violence, it means more support reaching communities earlier. That matters because early intervention can change the course of somebody's life. It can mean a child receives support before trauma deepens further. It can mean families receive help sooner. It can mean cycles of violence are interrupted before they continue into another generation.

These investments are important because no single reform on its own can fully address the lifelong impacts of abuse, but legislation like this still matters enormously, because it addresses a clear injustice that survivors have identified themselves. For too long, survivors have done the hard part and carried the burden of advocacy. They have come forward. They have relived trauma. They have participated in difficult legal processes and advocacy. They have secured compensation orders through the justice system. And then those orders for compensation have been delayed or denied. Some offenders have been able to protect assets while survivors remain unpaid.

People expect accountability to mean something real. This bill helps restore that principle. It strengthens accountability in a targeted and measured way. Importantly, it reflects the voices and advocacy of survivors themselves. Many survivors have spent years pushing for changes like this because they understand better than anyone where the system has failed. Their advocacy has helped expose gaps in the law that allow offenders to avoid responsibility, even after criminal convictions and court ordered compensation. Their advocacy matters. It has helped move this parliament towards a fairer outcome, and it's important that this parliament continues listening to those voices.

At its heart, this bill is about dignity, fairness and responsibility. It is about making sure our legal and financial systems do not leave survivors carrying the burden while offenders continue to enjoy their assets. When a court says compensation is owed to survivors of childhood sexual abuse, that compensation should be paid as soon as possible. It should not be out of reach because of financial loopholes. Survivors deserve better than that.

This legislation will not erase trauma, and it will not undo the harm caused. No amount of compensation can ever truly do that. But this reform does move us closer to a system where justice is real, enforceable and meaningful. For that reason, I commend the bill to the House.

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