National Survivors' Day

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (15:10): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about National Survivors' Day, which recognises the detrimental impact of sexual assault and institutional abuse?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for her question. National Survivors' Day was held this month, on 12 November, and is a day to recognise and commemorate the courage and healing journeys of survivors of sexual assault and institutional abuse—as well as that of their supporters and of the whistleblowers of such abuse—right across the country.

As described by the founders, the aim of National Survivors' Day is to primarily acknowledge the profound harm caused by sexual assaults and institutional abuse, both to survivors and to the community; to support efforts towards destigmatisation and public acceptance of the work undertaken by survivors and advocates; and to work towards improving responses to survivors and those impacted by this abhorrent abuse.

National Survivors' Day is an initiative of the In Good Faith Foundation, which is a national charity and support service that provides advocacy for those impacted by institutional sexual abuse. I would like to pay tribute to members of the foundation and acknowledge the critical work they do, particularly in advocating for victims of institutional sexual abuse and in working to educate the community around speaking up to prevent such abuse from occurring in the future.

I am proud to be part of a government that takes the issue of child sexual abuse extremely seriously. Recently, I spoke in this place about what an honour it was to attend the Ministers' Redress Survivor Roundtable and hear directly from survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse about their experience with the Redress Scheme in seeking assistance with healing and compensation. This was to ensure that, halfway through the National Redress Scheme's life, it is operating as best as it can to find some closure and to seek recompense for the horrific abuse survivors have suffered and survived.

The government has already passed a strong suite of reforms to better protect children and punish those who abuse them, including the child sex offender register, indefinite detention of serious child sex offenders, increasing the range of penalties faced by child sex offenders and closing loopholes around bail and sentencing for these offenders.

I look forward to the continued bipartisan effort that this chamber has had in the work that we continue to do in important reforms to help stamp out child sexual abuse and to best support survivors.