High Court Decision creates two-tier Justice System
The High Court today has delivered a catastrophic blow to all victims of childhood sexual abuse by religious clergy, brethren, and volunteers such as Scouts Australia and Surf Lifesaving clubs.
The High Court has said that whilst it recognises that extending the application of the law of vicarious liability has worked in a number of overseas jurisdictions in the common law world, the High Court’s previous decisions do not permit it to do so in Australia.
The promise of the Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse that victims of childhood sexual abuse get access to justice in the Court system remains illusory. All State jurisdictions in Australia have been required to legislate in recent years to permit the wrongs of the past to be righted in the Courts.
As the High Court has pointed to today, legislative intervention is again required if survivors are to be given a fair go. The NSW government changed the Civil Liability Act in 2018 and introduced laws which made organisations vicariously liable for child abuse perpetrated by individuals who are akin to employees of the organisation. The change was not retrospective and a simple amendment to make it retrospective would overcome the problem.
Different legislation will be required in other states as their legislation is different to NSW.
