Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-20T22:26:00.412Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Child sexual abuse and the legal system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Freda Briggs
Freda Briggs*
Affiliation:
Child Development, University of South Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

When Australia signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, federal and state governments agreed, under Article 19, to create appropriate legislation and all necessary social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation and provide treatment and social support for victims and their carers. Seventeen years later, Australian child advocates are wondering where those services are, especially for those outside state capital cities. More importantly, where is the justice system that protects children and caters for victims of sexual abuse?

Australia, in common with other former British colonies, inherited the Westminster adversarial system, described by Mallon and White (1995, p. 50, cited in McGrath 2005) as:

Type
Practice perspectives…
Information
Children Australia , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 4 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Family Law Council (2002) Family law and child protection: Final report, September, Canberrra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Glaser, W.F. (1997) ‘Paedophilia: The public health problem of the decade’, in James, M. (ed.), Paedophilia: Policy and prevention. Research and Public Policy Series No. 12, Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Kids First Foundation (2003) Report into the cost of child abuse and neglect in Australia, September.Google Scholar
Mallon, D. & White, C. (1995) ‘The social worker in court’, in White, C. (ed), Law for Northern Ireland Social Workers, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.Google Scholar
McGrath, K. (1998) ‘The Dutch Inquisitorial Legal System: What lessons has it for the Child Protection Services within an Adversarial System?’, Irish Journal of Social Work Research. 1, 2, 43–65.Google Scholar
McGrath, K. (2005) ‘Protecting Irish children better: The case for an inquisitorial approach in child care proceedings’, Judicial Studies Institute Journal, 5, 1, 136–152.Google Scholar
R v RAT (2000) NSWCCA 77.Google Scholar
Sloan, A. (2005) Correspondence from the President of NAPCAN to the Honourable the Attorney-General. South Australia.Google Scholar
Spencer, J. & Flin, R. (1993) The evidence of children, 2nd edition. London: Blackstone Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. (2004) Court Licensed Abuse, New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar