MEDIA RELEASE
Victim-survivors of institutional child sexual abuse have been anxiously awaiting the result of the High Court of Australia’s judgment in the case GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore. Today that decision was handed down.
The High Court of Australia handed down its decision to revoke the permanent stay application awarded by the lower courts. This means that GLJ is now able to have her claim against the Catholic Diocese of Lismore heard in court at long last.
The case of GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore is the first time that the High Court has considered a permanent stay application in a child sexual abuse claim.
Former Australian of the Year and CEO of The Grace Tame Foundation, Grace Tame said the High Court’s landmark decision gives hope to the community.
“We applaud the High Court’s decision to revoke the permanent stay awarded by the lower courts. By doing so it has set a new precedent, and recognised that in the inherently exceptional landscape of child sexual abuse, permanent stays constitute an abuse of the legal process.
“We also applaud the tireless advocacy of survivors, academics and legal experts whose work helped catalyse today’s outcome. It shouldn’t have had to come to this.
“The trauma of child sexual abuse is a life sentence. Even after the contact offending stops, this trauma is replicated all around us, including on the path to supposed justice, where systems abuse is commonplace.
“Time and again, we have seen permanent stays awarded by the courts, effectively locking out survivors from justice. We have also seen institutions threaten to apply for permanent stays in an attempt to force survivors to settle out of court for far less than they deserve—not that there is any amount of money that could repair a permanently corrupted childhood and remove the pain of being sexually violated.
“We are calling on the parliaments to make reforms that allow claimants who have been bullied into settlements by institutions under the threat of stay applications to unwind those settlements so they can have their day in court.
“There is so much work to do. Today’s outcome is a win for all survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. From the royal commission’s work, to the parliament’s removal of the statute of limitations, to the High Court’s decision today, we have three powerful institutions who have chosen to do the right thing. May survivors take heart from this, and may the message continue to reverberate,” said Ms Tame.
Victim-survivor of institutional child sexual abuse Matt Barker, who brought claims against Scouts NSW, had his case stopped due to an application of a permanent stay. He said that permanent stays are a cruel tactic of blocking victims and survivors of child sexual abuse from seeking justice in the court.
“In my case, there is no doubt, no argument, about what happened. Starting at the age of 11, I was sexually abused by my scout leader over a period of three years. That former scout leader pleaded guilty to 24 charges relating to my abuse. As well as further charges relating to the abuse of three other young scouts who were in my group.
“He is now in jail.
“Despite that set of facts, when I sought accountability and justice from Scouts NSW failure to provide a safe environment for me and for other children, Scouts NSW applied for, and were given a permanent stay of my case.
“Scouts NSW applied for a permanent stay despite acknowledging that these crimes took place.
“They chose this legal tactic despite their statement to the Royal Commission that their earlier ‘policies and procedures were not appropriate to ensure a child safe environment’. They applied for a permanent stay despite the scout leader that committed these crimes being alive, willing, and able to give evidence at trial.
“Today’s judgment sends a very strong message to institutions that they should not be using permanent stays to avoid meeting child sexual abuse claims in Court.
“I’m calling on all institutions that may be the subject of child sexual abuse claims to rule out any use of a permanent stay application that blocks a survivors access to trial,” said Mr Barker.
Managing Director of Marque Lawyers, Michael Bradley said today’s decision is historic.
“The High Court has delivered an unequivocal message to all courts that they’ve been getting this wrong, and to institutional defendants that this avenue of system abuse is now closed to them,” said Mr Bradley.