Child Abuse Inquiry
For well over three years now, Senator Murray's office has been consistently active as a small part of the Australian and international campaign to bring to light the plight of millions abused as children, and to try to find some long-term solutions that will help. This campaign began when he was successful in establishing the Child Migrant Inquiry in February 2000.
Another 'win' has been achieved. In March 2003, he was again successful in procuring political support to establish another inquiry - of which he is also a committee member - that will target those not covered by two former inquiries. These were:
- The inquiry into the fate of the Aboriginal 'stolen generation' as documented in Healing: A legacy of Generations, the 2000 Report of the Inquiry into the Federal Government's Implementation of Recommendations Made by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Bringing them Home (1997); and,
- The inquiry into the horror stories of the fate of many child migrants as documented in Lost Innocents: Righting the Record, the 2001 Report of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry.
The new Inquiry will be for those Australians who were raised as state wards or home children in institutions and other forms of care, such as foster homes (see media release and terms of reference) . In so doing, this Inquiry will complete a trilogy and will aim to:
- establish the scale of the problem of all forms of abuse and neglect of children in institutions and in care .
- encourage federal and state governments to fund research and programmes to lessen this blight on our society.
- evaluate and respond to the long-term social and economic effects on individuals and society as a whole.
It is one thing to make the moral and emotional connection when child abuse is revealed, but until the light goes on about the scale of it and the long-term personal, social and economic costs, little will be achieved in this pressing policy area.
We also hope it will help in healing the hurt done to victims and provide some solutions and policies to address these issues.
Senator Murray is also of the opinion that only a Royal Commission with its strong investigative powers can successfully pursue the concealment of child abuse crimes within churches or other institutions. If there is any case that warrants a royal commission, it is this. Click here for Senator Murray's speech on child sexual assault.
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