CIVIL LIABILITY AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL

As the Liberal National Party shadow minister for
communities, disability services and seniors, I rise to make a contribution to the debate on the Civil
Liability and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. Just over a year ago when I addressed the National
Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (Commonwealth Powers Bill) 2018, I stated at the
time—
As elected representatives and as legislators, our responsibility, first and foremost, in this parliament should be to ensure safe
and prosperous communities and, as such, deliver a safe and cohesive Queensland.
The passage of that legislation saw Queensland finally join the National Redress Scheme for
Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, enabling survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to access the
redress they so rightly deserve.
Following this, the legislation that is now before this House, as included in the policy objectives
of this bill, seeks to implement the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the Redress and civil litigation report. The recommendations made
by the commission aim to improve the ‘capacity of the justice system to provide fair access and
outcomes to survivors of child sexual abuse wishing to pursue a claim for civil damages for personal
injury arising from the abuse’. In doing this, the bill includes amendments to the Civil Liability Act 2003
to—
• introduce a reverse onus (applied prospectively) under which an institution must prove it took reasonable steps to prevent
the sexual abuse of a child in its care by a person associated with the institution to avoid legal liability for the abuse …
and
• establish a statutory framework for the nomination of a proper defendant by an unincorporated institution to meet any
liability incurred by the institution …
As articulated by my Liberal National Party colleague the shadow Attorney-General and member
for Toowoomba South during debate on the bill’s second reading in June, the Liberal National Party
opposition, while supportive of this legislation, maintained concerns regarding two of the commission’s
recommendations which at the time had not been implemented. The first of these concerns centred
around the liability of institutions only relating to sexual abuse but not physical abuse. It was argued
that the bill did not go far enough for many survivors and victims given the narrow definition of ‘abuse’
to be only sexual, as opposed to all other Australian jurisdictions that define child abuse for the purposes
of institutional liability to mean either sexual or physical abuse.
It is worth noting that such limitations and a narrow definition similarly concerned many relevant
stakeholders. Having further considered the commission’s comments, the definition of abuse which has
been adopted by New South Wales and Victoria, and after consultation with victims and advocates, the
Liberal National Party foreshadowed that it would seek to extend the definition of abuse to include
physical abuse. I am pleased to note that common sense and decency have recently prevailed within
the Palaszczuk Labor government. The recent announcement by the Attorney-General and the Minister
Speech By
Dr Christian Rowan
MEMBER FOR MOGGILL
Record of Proceedings, 23 October 2019
Christian_Rowan-Moggill-20191023-069258265640.docx Page 2 of 2
for Child Safety, Youth and Women that the definition of abuse will be extended to include serious
physical and psychological abuse as well as sexual abuse is welcome news and a major victory for
Queensland’s survivors of institutional abuse.
This change by Labor, which the Liberal National Party welcomes, is also a real credit to the hard
work and tireless efforts of our shadow Attorney-General and his advocacy to ensure Queensland’s
survivors can seek the justice and redress they rightly deserve. I certainly also acknowledge the
previous comments of the Labor Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women.
The second key concern that the Liberal National Party has with this bill—and is further evidence
that the legislation does not go far enough—has been the failure of the Palaszczuk Labor government
to adopt the commission’s recommendations to introduce a strict non-delegable duty of certain
instructions for institutional child sex abuse as outlined by recommendations 89 and 90. These
recommendations recommend that the non-delegable duty should apply to institutions that operate
relevant facilities or provide relevant services and be owed to children in the care, supervision, control
or authority of the institution in relation to that facility or service. By ignoring these significant
recommendations, which would see certain institutions strictly liable for the criminal acts committed by
those associated within the institution, the Palaszczuk Labor government is failing Queensland’s
survivors of sexual and physical abuse. That is why the Liberal National Party, having listened,
consulted, and taken notice of the legislative efforts and changes of other jurisdictions, will be moving
amendments to this legislation. Notwithstanding our concerns with regard to Labor’s attitude towards
the royal commission’s recommendations, the Liberal National Party remains committed to supporting
Queensland’s survivors of institutional abuse. We know that more needs to be done.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the royal commission, the staff of
the royal commission and all those who appeared. I acknowledge the groundbreaking, incredible work
the royal commission undertook during its extensive hearings and associated reporting. As such,
through this debate I would also like to raise the issue of the recent inclusion of artwork by a problematic
artist in the Margaret Olley exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. At a
time when we have had the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse with
significant findings and recommendations, including recourse for many victims and those who have
suffered significant trauma, I still find it extraordinary that the works of problematic artists—in some
cases paedophiles—have recently been displayed and potentially continue to be displayed and
supported by publicly funded institutions.
A government member interjected.
Dr ROWAN: I hear the interjection from the minister. I am concerned about any displays of these
artists under any circumstances and certainly through publicly funded institutions. Whilst I would like to
take the opportunity to acknowledge that the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art has
developed a policy following public outrage and questioning of the Labor arts minister which I undertook
through estimates as the Liberal National Party’s shadow minister for the arts, I am still deeply
concerned about this issue.
On 6 September 2019, the Labor Minister for the Arts answered a question that was asked in
relation to any profits that may have come from materials sold or any other moneys and whether these
moneys could potentially be handed to child victim organisations. However, the minister’s response to
recent questions on notice appears to indicate that the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern
Art received at least $520,000 in donations and merchandise sales as part of the Margaret Olley
exhibition. It would still be my view that the Labor government could consider donating either all or a
proportion of some of those funds to child victim support groups. Particularly given the legislation that
we are talking about today, the significant issue of child trauma and abuse, and that we are also talking
about recourse today for some of those victims, perhaps that can be further considered by the
government.
As a doctor and specialist physician who treats patients who have had significant alcohol and
drug issues, I can say that many of those people unfortunately have suffered with issues of childhood
neglect, trauma or abuse, and that can be a precursor to them developing significant drug and alcohol
problems. In this place we all acknowledge that those people need to receive apologies, they need to
have recourse and they need compensation. In relation to some of the matters I have raised I would
ask that the government further consider—and particularly the Gallery of Modern Art through the
minister—whether some of the proceeds from that should be allocated towards child victim support
groups.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee for its
investigation of, and report on, this legislation and all stakeholders and submitters who contributed to
the committee’s consideration. It is an important bill for many people here in Queensland, and I
commend the legislation to the House.