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THE Gallop Government has willingly exposed itself to multi-million-dollar litigation - and set a precedent for dealing with child abuse in state care - by tracking down former wards and inviting them to take legal action. More than 200 of the 304 West Australians abused as children in state care between 1993 and September 12 this year have received the government invitation. The Department of Community Development has written to the former wards, urging them to act without delay and enclosing a Legal Aid application form. In other cases, where the abused child is still in state care, Legal Aid has been appointed to sue the Government or seek criminal injuries compensation on the child's behalf. So far, 13 Supreme Court writs have been issued against the DCD, the department responsible for child welfare. Last year, the Tasmanian Government offered ex-gratia payments and a formal apology to hundreds of abused state wards. But the payments of up to $60,000 per victim were contingent on the claimants waiving their rights to take civil action. In South Australia, Supreme Court judge Ted Mulligan is heading a commission of inquiry into sex abuse of state wards. The West Australian response follows a government audit of DCD and the establishment of a Duty of Care unit that the Gallop Government claims has made the reporting and detection of abuse easier. The department was shamed last month when it was revealed that it had sent a teenage boy to piano lessons with a convicted child-sex offender, who then later allegedly abused him. Community Development Minister Sheila McHale said she took the Government's obligations to child victims seriously and was not afraid of bad publicity from any of the legal actions. "These are ugly stories but we are not going to sweep them under the carpet," she said. "I am insisting that if a child has been abused in state care, which is unacceptable, then the least we can do is make sure their legal rights are met, as well as try to deal with their pain." Ms McHale said other state governments should follow suit. "If the governments have the political will to do it, and a nerve of steel, yes," she said. Democrats senator Andrew Murray, who chaired the Forgotten Australians Senate inquiry into child abuse, welcomed the move. The Federal Government and COAG were yet to offer a "whole of government" response and recognise that the social and economic costs of child abuse and assault were far greater than just the crime. "No government has got clean hands on this matter but all of them are now more conscious of early intervention ... but there is a long way to go," Senator Murray said. The Australian (17-9-2005) Paige Taylor |
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