The wording of a South Australian child sex abuse offence heading is set to be amended to better reflect the nature of the offending, following a campaign led by abuse survivor and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
As part of Ms Tame’s campaign for harmonisation of child abuse laws across Australia, she has been calling for changes to the way the sexual abuse of a child is worded in legislation – especially in jurisdictions where it is referred to as ‘an unlawful relationship’.
At the crux of Ms Tame’s concerns is that the word ‘relationship’ in the heading of the offence implies mutual responsibility, consent, and diminishes the gravity of the offence.
The Government will seek to change the name of the section 50 Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 offence from “Unlawful sexual relationship with child” to “Sexual abuse of a child” with the introduction of a new Bill in Parliament’s Legislative Council today.
This Bill does not change the elements of the offence, as recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse.
This change is consistent with similar offences in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Tasmania.
A broader review of sexual consent and abuse laws, that includes other issues raised by Ms Tame and her Foundation's Harmony Campaign, is also being undertaken by the South Australian and Federal Governments.
Quotes
Attributable to Kyam Maher
The way we describe these offences is incredibly important.
Words matter, and the term ‘relationship’ carries a certain connotation that, quite frankly, should not be associated with the exploitative nature of child sexual abuse.
A child cannot give consent and can in no way be part of a sexual relationship, lawful or otherwise. It is exploitation and abuse, plain and simple.
The elements of the offence remain the same, but the new heading better reflects the gravity of the offence.
This measure is a small, but important, part of broader reforms we are pursuing in relation to sexual abuse that have included the criminalisation of stealthing, and measures to reclassify the possession of child pornography as a serious indictable offence.
Attributable to Grace Tame
This change takes significant steps towards eliminating salacious debate and confusion. Words hold immense weight. The previous terminology also gave scope for the sexualisation and adultification of boys and girls in a particularly dark, twisted context. Our legislation must reflect the unequivocal seriousness of this crime, which is never a child's desire, but instead a perverted fantasy projected onto and into them through a process of grooming which involves a stratagem of calculated - often invisible - offences designed to gradually increase a preexisting stark power imbalance.
This change may appear small, but it is not. Action like this and the show of support at the highest level that comes with it, is not to be taken lightly. It ensures our legislation and our community correctly identifies and understands what deliberate repeated child sexual abuse is. The tide is turning. Children are being heard.
Attributable to Greens MLC Tammy Franks
Our language matters. It matters for survivors, for those who face the daunting prospect of confronting their abuser in court and it matters for the survivors who can’t.
Attributable to SA-BEST MLC Connie Bonaros
Actions always speak louder than words and this decisive action by the government – following strong representation by SA-BEST – will see some key words changed to better reflect the nature of such heinous offending.
The use of the word 'relationship' conveys a message of consent – and nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to the life-changing and seriousness of this insidious offending.
Understandably, there is much concern around the casualisation of the language, and that somehow this is something that the victim and the perpetrator are consenting to.
That ends today with the introduction of the government’s Bill.
