George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Ruston, the extension will give the commission the capacity to hear more stories from victims, conduct more public hearings and issue additional interim reports. Because of the extension, we expect that there will be an additional 30 public hearings, bringing the total number to 70. There will be the opportunity for an additional 3,000 private sessions, bringing the total number to 7,000. Effective use of 52 research projects, to be completed by December 2015, will be able to inform critical recommendations and, as well, the commission will have the ability to revisit institutions mentioned in earlier case studies to scrutinise changes carried out since the initial examination. All of this will build a much fuller and more complete picture of the scourge of institutional child abuse, but, most importantly, it will give those who need to tell their stories the opportunity to do so.