Abuse RC's key criminal justice reforms

THE CHILD ABUSE ROYAL COMMISSION'S KEY RECOMMENDATIONS ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE

FAILURE TO REPORT - AND THE RELIGIOUS CONFESSIONAL

* Crime of failure to report child sexual abuse in institutions

* Extends to information given in religious confessions

* Applies if persons in institutions fail to report to police in circumstances where they know, suspect or should have suspected a child is being or has been sexually abused by an adult associated with the institution

* Doesn't apply to individual foster carers or kinship carers

TENDENCY AND COINCIDENCE EVIDENCE AND JOINT TRIALS

* Change laws to allow greater use of evidence by multiple victims in relation to a single perpetrator and joint trials

* Includes prior child sexual abuse convictions if it otherwise satisfies test for admissibility of tendency or coincidence evidence

* Found there have been unjust outcomes in form of unwarranted acquittals because of exclusion of tendency or coincidence evidence

* Says this evidence will often have a high probative value in child sexual abuse offences and risk of unfair prejudice to accused has been overstated

FAILURE TO PROTECT

* Crime of failure to protect a child within an institution from a substantial risk of sexual abuse by an adult associated with the institution

SENTENCING STANDARDS IN HISTORICAL CASES

* Sentences for child sexual abuse offences be set in accordance with sentencing standards at time of sentencing instead of at time of offending

* But sentence must be limited to maximum sentence available for the offence at date when offence was committed

* Also wants good character excluded as a mitigating factor in sentencing for child sexual abuse offences where that good character facilitated the offending

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE OFFENCES

* Broad grooming offence that captures any communication or conduct with a child with the intention of grooming the child to be involved in a sexual offence

* Extend grooming offences to cover grooming of persons other than the child, such as a parent or carer

* Each state and territory needs an offence to enable repeated but largely indistinguishable occasions of abuse to be charged effectively

* Make offences of persistent child sexual abuse/maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship more effective to reflect how complainants experience and remember repeated child sexual abuse

OTHER AREAS

* 85 recommendations in total

* Also covers improvements to police and prosecution responses; reforms to judicial directions and improving information for judges, legal practitioners and juries; improving special measures and courtroom experiences to help complainants give their best evidence.

Source: Child abuse royal commission's criminal justice report