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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
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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

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