Member

As it stands, based on these questions alone, this offence would therefore be incredibly difficult to prosecute. Aside from the moral judgment, we must ask ourselves whether it can be right that someone who knowingly covers up child sexual abuse can walk away without consequences purely because their actions did not involve deterring a mandated reporter, or they did not know that they were one. If we do not close these loopholes, it will mean that active cover-ups by a person or an organisation will, at most, be treated as a failure to report rather than as a serious offence. This cannot be right. That is why I urge the Government to accept Amendment 286A. Its redrafting of Clause 79 would remove the requirement that the act of concealment involve a mandated reporter. It would also remove the need for the act of concealment to directly involve another person, enabling it to cover actions such as destruction of evidence or moving a suspected perpetrator on to another organisation, something which a senior leader could do by an order from afar.