Excerpts from Parliament of Victoria Hansard
Mr Philip Dalidakis MP
14 April 2015
Mr DALIDAKIS (Southern Metropolitan) — I rise to speak in support of the bill for a range of reasons. Most certainly the key issue deals with ensuring that those people who, sadly, have been so grossly abused have an opportunity to seek recompense and support not just from their friends and family and not just from their community but in the form of restitution from those who committed the atrocity.
The Betrayal of Trust report, which was tabled by the last Parliament’s Family and Community Development Committee some 17 months ago, was both an explanation of the past and a guide to the future. The committee’s work under the leadership of its chair, Ms Georgie Crozier, was undertaken in a bipartisan spirit. It was very challenging, very difficult work that at times would have been emotionally harrowing and largely thankless. The committee was chaired very ably by Ms Crozier. The members who heard the evidence obviously investigated the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children who had been in the care of non-government institutions in Victoria.
The committee made a series of important recommendations that were aimed at safeguarding children, some of which have already been implemented by the previous government. This government has pledged to implement all of the outstanding recommendations from the Betrayal of Trust report. The bill before the house is a very important step along that journey towards providing justice to survivors of child abuse. The objective is to support survivors of child abuse in overcoming hurdles they may face in receiving compensation for the devastating effects of the abuse — restitution for the crimes that were committed against them.
For many survivors the hurt and pain of the abuse that was suffered by them takes many years to abide; indeed it can take decades for some survivors to come to terms with the heinous nature of the crimes committed against them. It takes a great deal of support for those people to feel comfortable enough within themselves, within their families and within their communities to seek support to enable them to talk about it publicly, and of course talking about it publicly includes going through the court system to seek some sort of legal recompense for the actions committed against them. The bill before the Parliament recognises that we should not put barriers in their way to seek remedy. It recognises that we need to deal with their pain and allow their healing to continue.
As I have already said, the Betrayal of Trust report received bipartisan support, and I again acknowledge the efforts of all committee members, specifically pointing out the work Ms Crozier undertook in chairing that committee. As some would be aware, I have a great personal interest in this matter in relation to members of the Jewish community, to which obviously I belong, and the Yeshivah community within the electorate I represent. The great majority of the Jewish community in Victoria falls within the electorate of the Southern Metropolitan Region, and I would do a disservice to the victims within the Yeshivah Centre and the Yeshivah College to fail to mention the varied issues they are facing currently. These are being investigated by the royal commission into child abuse set up by the former Gillard government. It gives identification and personal meaning to the victims and the issues we are debating today.
There are victims within the Yeshivah Centre who recently testified before the royal commission about matters that occurred some 25 years ago. Prior to us attempting to change this legislation, the ability for them to seek a degree of financial compensation for the very sad, illegal abuse they suffered would otherwise not be forthcoming. Changing the legislation — in effect, removing the time limitation on their ability to seek financial compensation — enables them to seek closure. As I said, it could take months, it could take years or it could take decades for survivors to be able to appropriately deal with the transgressions against them.
Within the Yeshivah community we have recently discovered that leaders within that specific religious community, within the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, were made aware of this abuse and chose to either do nothing about it or, worse, cover it up.
By definition, if you do not do something about an issue but instead cover it up, you potentially limit the amount of time people have to deal with that issue. We are talking about people who are the most vulnerable in our community. These are children who do not have a sense of self-identity or sufficient strength of character at that point of their lives to be able to stand up and speak out about what is occurring. That is why, again, removing this limitation means that people who have been affected can go forward on their own pathway without having to fear that they have missed the opportunity to seek criminal punishment for, or financial compensation from, those who have acted against them.
The students whom I am specifically talking about within the confines of the Yeshiva Beth-Rivka Colleges, at the Yeshivah Centre, have had the courage to come forward and testify about the abuse that they suffered. Their families have subsequently suffered a degree of ostracism from their community for coming forward and trying to deal with these issues. I do not talk about the Yeshivah Centre to try and besmirch the Jewish community. This is an issue that covers the length and breadth of our community. Darkness and horrors lurk within, and they lurk everywhere. But discussing these issues in terms of a community that I belong to and represent hopefully gives members on both sides, as well as those on the crossbench, an opportunity to understand in a real, practical and current way how this legislation will help, and, more importantly, how it will positively impact on people’s ability to deal with the issues at hand and seek closure for themselves and their families. Financial compensation does not redress the ills of the crimes, but it does help to hold people accountable and to provide a level of support to those who have suffered abuse, which they can then use to rebuild their lives, regardless of what stage their lives are at — regardless of whether it has been days, months, years or decades since the abuse occurred.
The victims and survivors and their families who have come forward through the Betrayal of Trust report by the Family and Community Development Committee and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse deserve nothing but praise and support. This bill in no small way goes to supporting them in a financial sense, enabling them to seek financial compensation that otherwise would have been denied them through a limitation of the time available to seek financial redress. We owe it to the victims, their families and all those who have been affected by the crimes, either privately or publically, to remain committed to ensuring that it is as difficult as possible for these crimes to be committed in the future, but also that it is as easy as possible for survivors to seek restitution.
I am not for a moment suggesting that we can stop child abuse by amending this legislation. As I said, we can hold people to account from a criminal perspective and, as is being debated with regard to this bill, from a civil perspective. With that, I commend this bill to the chamber.
Originally published at Parliament of Victoria Hansard.
The Betrayal of Trust report, which was tabled by the last Parliament’s Family and Community Development Committee some 17 months ago, was both an explanation of the past and a guide to the future. The committee’s work under the leadership of its chair, Ms Georgie Crozier, was undertaken in a bipartisan spirit. It was very challenging, very difficult work that at times would have been emotionally harrowing and largely thankless. The committee was chaired very ably by Ms Crozier. The members who heard the evidence obviously investigated the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children who had been in the care of non-government institutions in Victoria.
The committee made a series of important recommendations that were aimed at safeguarding children, some of which have already been implemented by the previous government. This government has pledged to implement all of the outstanding recommendations from the Betrayal of Trust report. The bill before the house is a very important step along that journey towards providing justice to survivors of child abuse. The objective is to support survivors of child abuse in overcoming hurdles they may face in receiving compensation for the devastating effects of the abuse — restitution for the crimes that were committed against them.
For many survivors the hurt and pain of the abuse that was suffered by them takes many years to abide; indeed it can take decades for some survivors to come to terms with the heinous nature of the crimes committed against them. It takes a great deal of support for those people to feel comfortable enough within themselves, within their families and within their communities to seek support to enable them to talk about it publicly, and of course talking about it publicly includes going through the court system to seek some sort of legal recompense for the actions committed against them. The bill before the Parliament recognises that we should not put barriers in their way to seek remedy. It recognises that we need to deal with their pain and allow their healing to continue.
As I have already said, the Betrayal of Trust report received bipartisan support, and I again acknowledge the efforts of all committee members, specifically pointing out the work Ms Crozier undertook in chairing that committee. As some would be aware, I have a great personal interest in this matter in relation to members of the Jewish community, to which obviously I belong, and the Yeshivah community within the electorate I represent. The great majority of the Jewish community in Victoria falls within the electorate of the Southern Metropolitan Region, and I would do a disservice to the victims within the Yeshivah Centre and the Yeshivah College to fail to mention the varied issues they are facing currently. These are being investigated by the royal commission into child abuse set up by the former Gillard government. It gives identification and personal meaning to the victims and the issues we are debating today.
There are victims within the Yeshivah Centre who recently testified before the royal commission about matters that occurred some 25 years ago. Prior to us attempting to change this legislation, the ability for them to seek a degree of financial compensation for the very sad, illegal abuse they suffered would otherwise not be forthcoming. Changing the legislation — in effect, removing the time limitation on their ability to seek financial compensation — enables them to seek closure. As I said, it could take months, it could take years or it could take decades for survivors to be able to appropriately deal with the transgressions against them.
Within the Yeshivah community we have recently discovered that leaders within that specific religious community, within the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, were made aware of this abuse and chose to either do nothing about it or, worse, cover it up.
By definition, if you do not do something about an issue but instead cover it up, you potentially limit the amount of time people have to deal with that issue. We are talking about people who are the most vulnerable in our community. These are children who do not have a sense of self-identity or sufficient strength of character at that point of their lives to be able to stand up and speak out about what is occurring. That is why, again, removing this limitation means that people who have been affected can go forward on their own pathway without having to fear that they have missed the opportunity to seek criminal punishment for, or financial compensation from, those who have acted against them.
The students whom I am specifically talking about within the confines of the Yeshiva Beth-Rivka Colleges, at the Yeshivah Centre, have had the courage to come forward and testify about the abuse that they suffered. Their families have subsequently suffered a degree of ostracism from their community for coming forward and trying to deal with these issues. I do not talk about the Yeshivah Centre to try and besmirch the Jewish community. This is an issue that covers the length and breadth of our community. Darkness and horrors lurk within, and they lurk everywhere. But discussing these issues in terms of a community that I belong to and represent hopefully gives members on both sides, as well as those on the crossbench, an opportunity to understand in a real, practical and current way how this legislation will help, and, more importantly, how it will positively impact on people’s ability to deal with the issues at hand and seek closure for themselves and their families. Financial compensation does not redress the ills of the crimes, but it does help to hold people accountable and to provide a level of support to those who have suffered abuse, which they can then use to rebuild their lives, regardless of what stage their lives are at — regardless of whether it has been days, months, years or decades since the abuse occurred.
The victims and survivors and their families who have come forward through the Betrayal of Trust report by the Family and Community Development Committee and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse deserve nothing but praise and support. This bill in no small way goes to supporting them in a financial sense, enabling them to seek financial compensation that otherwise would have been denied them through a limitation of the time available to seek financial redress. We owe it to the victims, their families and all those who have been affected by the crimes, either privately or publically, to remain committed to ensuring that it is as difficult as possible for these crimes to be committed in the future, but also that it is as easy as possible for survivors to seek restitution.
I am not for a moment suggesting that we can stop child abuse by amending this legislation. As I said, we can hold people to account from a criminal perspective and, as is being debated with regard to this bill, from a civil perspective. With that, I commend this bill to the chamber.
Originally published at Parliament of Victoria Hansard.