Latest news with #victimsurvivors
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
New report reveals shocking number of Aussies sexually harassed in the workplace
More Australians are being faced with the decision between their livelihoods and their safety, with new data revealing one in three have experienced workplace sexual harassment. The Australian Human Rights Commission's (AHRC) Speaking from Experience report found a significant number of victim-survivors identified as a vulnerable person. Of the 300 workers interviewed, 47 per cent of those were young people aged between 15 to 17, 53 per cent identified as having a disability, while 44 per cent of survey respondents were from LGBTQIA+ communities. Twenty-six per cent were citizens of another country or visa holders. The findings pointed to those who had 'more to lose', or were in positions with no power, were most often targeted. 'Speaking from Experience was a groundbreaking listening and reform project,' Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody said. 'It provided a full picture of how harassers target people of all identities within our community … what we learnt was that WSH is rarely only an issue of gendered power. 'WSH relates to, and intersects with, other forms of discrimination such as race, migration status, sexuality, gender identity, disability, First Nations status and age. 'These solutions to prevent workplace sexual harassment come from listening to those who have lived it,' she added. 'We heard the experiences of more than 300 Australians from diverse backgrounds, who told us what needs to change in addressing workplace sexual harassment. 'Workers shouldn't have to choose between their safety and their livelihood.' The AHRC is now calling for a number of reforms – including amending the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to limit the use of confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, increasing funding for specialist support services and introducing civil penalties for employers who breach their Positive Duty – to be introduced to make Australian workplaces safer. A major reform centred around accessibility, with many workers, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, facing barriers to information as resources were often presented in complex and legalistic language. Many respondents noted a sense of denied justice, with employer responses to WSH reports often leading to being disbelieved or harming career prospects and community relations. 'Secure work conditions, characterised by fair contracts, financial stability, and robust worker protections, are foundational to addressing WSH,' the report read. 'Safety and inclusivity go hand-in-hand.' Dr Cody said workplace sexual harassment can affect every part of life, with plenty of work still to be done in addressing, and ultimately curbing, the issue. 'While it is a final crucial step in the Commission's Respect@Work agenda, there is still plenty of work to be done … for real action, accountability, and cultural shifts for everyone to be safe and respected at work.'
The Guardian
5 days ago
- The Guardian
Australia is failing families affected by child sexual abuse. We must listen to the intervention and prevention experts
Child sexual abuse is a global public health crisis that directly or indirectly affects every single human being on the planet and costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Its lasting harms are wide-ranging, complex, amorphous, generational. In Australia, one in five boys and one in three girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. One in 10 men have a history of offending against children, online or offline. The most common adult perpetrator is a caregiver in the home. Child sexual abuse accounts for at least half of prosecuted sexual offences in this country. If you aren't a victim-survivor, perpetrator or both, the chances are you love someone who is. Eight years ago, the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse made a gamut of recommendations to address the problem from every angle. Among them was provision of national support services for non-offending family members of child sexual abuse offenders, who are typically left devastated and traumatised once the offending is revealed, as well as an early intervention service for people concerned about their sexual interest or behaviour towards children. Both measures feature in the 2021 National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse and its corresponding national action plan, overseen by the National Office for Child Safety (NOCS) – which falls within the Attorney-General's Department. These services are designed to fill major gaps in the Australian response to child sexual abuse. And although tenders for these services were supposed to go to market in 2022, they weren't opened until a year later. They closed in February 2024. As of today, no contract has been signed for the delivery of these vital services. The process has been so protracted, unethical and mishandled that it warranted an independent audit conducted by the Australian National Audit Office (Anao). The Anao report, released last week, found that the Attorney-General's Department is failing in its duty to deliver essential services to prevent sexual abuse before it occurs and support affected families. The procurement process was found to be flawed in multiple ways. Perhaps most alarmingly, the highest scoring tender for family support services was inexplicably struck out in favour of the second ranked tender. Out of 11 tenderers, seven failed to comply with one or more of the assessment criteria. In sourcing consultants for the procurement process, the department was found to have engaged in non-competitive practices, contravening its own commonwealth procurement rules. Despite these shortcomings, the Attorney-General's Department is insisting that the audit will not change the outcome of the tenders. While the department's excuse for the delays is that these are 'complex' services, it is demonstrably unfair to apportion blame to the sector. The problem isn't an absence of services or experts able to manage complexity, it's government incompetence and insufficient funding. More to the point, regardless of the reason, the dire consequences of the delays extend far beyond the service providers and traumatised consumers in need. There is an unknown but guaranteed number of children who have suffered otherwise preventable sexual abuse as a result. In any other area of national crisis and priority, the contracting and delivery of critical services is unlikely to be so drawn out and poorly handled. How could something so widespread and urgent be treated with such blatant disregard? Because child sexual abuse is ugly, uncomfortable and impossible to sanitise for the mainstream. The bleak reality of child sexual abuse is that it cannot be easily communicated in glossy advertising campaigns or public education programs. The fact is, people with a sexual interest in children need options to stop them before they offend, because the moment they take that step, they leave behind a trail of destruction that includes not just their victims and their families, but their own devastated partners and children. The need for robust, specialised child sexual abuse intervention and prevention services could not be more apparent. Australia has had no national support for non-offending family members of child sexual abuse perpetrators for more than two years. After a police raid removes every device from a family home, who supports the mother? What does she do with her trauma? How does she care for her children? Who do the children of parents who've offended call? The service models that Australia needs already exist. They've been built by experts, refined over years, and proven to work. Hope lies there, and with the stalwart frontline workers and advocates across the country who will keep fighting for funding because we believe that preventing child sexual abuse is a worthy and achievable goal that benefits all of us. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via The Stop It Now! helpline is 1800 011 800. Grace Tame was the 2021 Australian of the Year, and is director of the Grace Tame Foundation This article has been co-signed by: Prof Michael Salter, director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW; Prof Jon Rouse APM, Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW and AiLECs Lab Monash University; Hetty Johnston AM; Rosie Batty AO; Rachel Green, CEO of SANE; Natalie Walker, PartnerSPEAK founder
ABC News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Churches to be held vicariously liable for abuse under new Victorian laws to be proposed to parliament
Churches will be held vicariously liable for abuse committed by their priests under new Victorian laws to be introduced to parliament by the end of the year. The retrospective legislation seeks to overcome a 2024 High Court ruling that the Ballarat Catholic Diocese could not be held liable for the abuse of notorious paedophile priest Bryan Coffey because he was not a church employee. The landmark decision threw dozens of compensation cases brought by victim-survivors against institutions into doubt, with lawyers and advocates saying it added to their trauma. Attorneys-general across Australia have since discussed the changes and victim-survivors have led a major campaign for states to fix the law, with private members bills introduced by the Legalise Cannabis Party in Victoria and NSW parliaments. There has been a groundswell of support from Labor MPs in Victoria with more than 40 signing a letter backing retrospective laws and demanding action from cabinet. Senior ministers also met with victim-survivors and lawyers in Victoria in recent months. Victorian Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny on Tuesday told her party's weekly caucus meeting that Victoria would introduce retrospective laws to parliament by the end of 2025. Ms Kilkenny told the ABC she had instructed her department to begin drafting legislation. She acknowledged many victim-survivors felt ignored. "We are listening, this government is listening, and we will develop legislation that will be before the parliament as soon as possible,'' she said. Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer John Rule said last year's High Court decision had created "a whole lot of uncertainty and fear" for many clients. "The survivors felt like their legal rights had been stripped away by the High Court decision," he said. "It's a really positive move that the Victorian government is leading the way here. Introducing changes to the law will give survivors hope that steps are being taken to ensure their legal rights are protected." Lawyer Judy Courtin, who has a long history of taking on institutions over abuse claims, said she was pleased with the government's decision. But she said there was no need to wait another six months for changes, with a private members bill already tabled and being debated in parliament. "The government has the perfect bill already. It can tinker with it and put its own moniker on it," she said. "It is ready to go." Dr Courtin and others have warned delays were making some complainants suicidal because they feel the system is working against them. "Seven critical months have already elapsed since the High Court judgement was handed down and our [state] government was put on notice," she said. "Impacted victims are losing their claims and suffering additional, unimaginable psychiatric harm." She said it was imperative that the government moved quickly so court dates set before the High Court decision were not jeopardised. Other states have vicarious liability laws but they were not retrospective. Critics warn the laws could have unintended consequences, especially for community sporting clubs and youth groups where people holding volunteer roles may have perpetrated abuse.
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Brittany Higgins warns of #MeToo backlash and urges Labor to ‘transform' how Australia handles sexual assault
Brittany Higgins has warned of an orchestrated 'backlash' to the #MeToo movement in her first public speech since returning to public life. During her keynote address to the fourth Conversations That Matter event in Geelong on Thursday, Higgins also urged the Albanese government to use its election mandate to 'transform how sexual assault is handled in Australia'. Reflecting on the legacy of the #MeToo movement – which began in the United States in 2017 and peaked in Australia in 2021, when Higgins went public with allegations of rape inside parliament house – she said momentum had shifted. 'Movements don't just provoke change. They also promote backlash. And if we look around today in 2025 it's clear we're witnessing a concerted pushback, not only against survivors, but against the very idea that sexual violence deserves to be taken seriously is a systemic cultural crisis,' she said. She said such backlash was 'well funded, sophisticated and at times, deeply embedded within the institutions which are meant to protect us' and cited media coverage of her own case as an example. 'I've spoken to victim-survivors who said they had to turn away from the coverage of my assault as it was triggering for them. I don't blame them, because inadvertently, they were seeing the same old rhetoric that taught them to be shamed in the first place. 'Suddenly, they saw subsections of the Australian public discount their pain, whether their rape, assault or harassment would or could be attributed to their actions.' Higgins also pointed to high-profile international cases to illustrate what she called a broader 'cultural regression'. She said social media algorithms were feeding young men 'extremist, misogynistic' content and criticised attacks on diversity and inclusion programs, under the guise of opposing 'wokeness or identity politics'. 'Make no mistake, this is an indirect repudiation of the very programs that help get more women and other marginalised groups into positions of power,' she said. Higgins also slammed the Queensland government for indefinitely delaying sexual harassment protections that were due to be strengthened this month. She called on the new attorney general, Michelle Rowland, to support the Australian Law Reform Commission's recommendations after its review into justice responses to sexual violence was tabled in March. 'We have yet to hear a meaningful response from the new government regarding the actual recommendations of the report, whether they have any intention of accepting or enacting on any of it,' Higgins said. She said Labor 'proudly preached its credentials as progressive, inclusive party that has the interest of women front and centre in their policy agenda', but said they need to 'use this [election] mandate to act and to implement meaningful reform'. 'We've marched, we've signed petitions, we've had inquiries, we've exercised our power at the ballot box … This right now is the once in a generation opportunity not just to tinker, but to transform how sexual assault is handled in Australia,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The attorney general's office was contacted for comment. Higgins, who earlier this week announced a return to the workforce with PR agency Third Hemisphere, was joined at Thursday's event by husband David Sharaz and three-month-old son, Frederick. The couple returned from France before Frederick's birth in March. During a Q+A segment, she shared how having her son 'definitely made me appreciate my own mum so much more'. Higgins told the audience that shortly after Frederick was born, he needed surgery. Watching him in pain, she said, shattered her heart 'into a million pieces' and made her realise what it must have been like for her mother to watch her go through her recent experiences and 'not being able to do anything'. The event was hosted by the Give Where You Live Foundation. Its chief executive, Zac Lewis, said conversations about 'confronting' issues such as sexual assault were necessary to drive changed. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at
ABC News
18-05-2025
- ABC News
Former police officer extradited from Queensland to face historical sexual abuse charges in Hobart
A former police officer has been extradited from Queensland to Tasmania for alleged historical sexual abuse offences. The man will appear in Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of three counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child and three counts of indecent assault. Tasmania Police alleged the abuse occurred in Tasmania between 1963 and 1982 and involved multiple victim-survivors connected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. It is understood the man was investigated through Taskforce Artemis, a specialist police team looking into child abuse allegations, set up after the Tasmanian Commission of Inquiry, which handed down its final report in 2023.
