Organisations Can Be Held Liable for Child Abuse by Staff, Volunteers and Contractors
Civil Law (Wrongs - Organisational Child Abuse Liability) Amendment Bill 2025
Private Member's BillTopics
child abuse child protection child safety criminal justice institutional liability organizational accountability victim rights
Introduced by: Shane Rattenbury MLA (GRN)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
Organisations are now legally responsible for child abuse committed by an employee if the employee used their role or position to abuse the child.
For these rules, an 'employee' includes volunteers, contractors, office holders, owners and religious leaders.
An organisation is responsible for a child if it exercises care, supervision, or authority over them; this includes organisations that delegate those duties to another group.
Courts must consider whether an organisation gave an employee power, control or intimacy with a child when deciding if the employee's role provided the opportunity for abuse.
The new liability rules apply to legal proceedings that started before the law changed but have not yet been decided.
The definition of 'abuse settlement agreements' now includes older agreements involving child abuse by people who would be considered employees under these new rules.