Three years ago today Stuart Grimley MP tabled our petition in Victoria Parliament. Three years later the Victorian Minister of Health continues to ignore our petition and has never responded to numerous and continuing requests to meet, to discuss the piloting in full, Recommendation 9.1 of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission).
The Victorian Government also continues to refuse to make public what it did and didn't do, regarding all of the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
The Victorian Government also continues to fail to report the progress (percentage complete), actions taken and planned implementation date, for each recommendation of the Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools.
We are far from alone in calling out this appalling lack of accountability and disregard for survivors, their families and communities living with the devastating impacts of child sexual abuse.
In a joint statement of the Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA) have recently said,
“Time and time again, we see inquiries and Royal Commissions undertaken with minimal accountability when it comes to the implementation of recommendations. Instead of more reports or inquiries, we need to act on the findings of past reviews and focus on practical, community-driven solutions.”
"Citing the Australian Childhood Maltreatment Study on the prevalence of abuse, and a 2024 AIFS report detailing the large-scale failure to implement key measures among 61 inquiries and 3,005 recommendations made from 2010–22"
"The lack of action on previous inquiry recommendations is evidence of a lack of accountability for the human rights of children in Australia. If governments are serious about protecting children, there must be measures to ensure their accountability to act on the evidence."
"The Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA) have called for government action on early intervention, better support services and community-driven responses to address child sexual abuse."
https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/news/anzccga-calls-for-action-on-child-sexual-abuse-not-another-royal-commission/
What ANZCCGA is calling for government action on - early intervention and better support services - is what our Petition has been calling for, and will continue to call for.
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Understanding we are not alone in working to hold the Victorian government accountable to take action on numerous, evidence-based recommendations, we continue to work with others to more effectively pressure the government to act. This includes Sexual Assault Services Victoria, Rachel Payne MP (member for South Eastern Metropolitan), and more recently, the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse.
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Our governments have failed to act on numerous recommendations that would improve the lives of survivors of child sexual abuse, their families and communities. Your support helps our work to change that.