Grace Ormsby of Lawyers Weekly reports:
The Tasmanian government has released draft legislation to “lift the veil of the confessional” and require the reporting of child sexual abuse.
The laws reflect a government intent to make religious ministers mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse and to toughen laws around failing to report serious crimes.
The updated legislation is a reaction to the “shocking revelations of child sexual abuse which have emerged from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse,” according to a statement from the Tasmanian Attorney-General Elise Archer.
“There is no excuse for failure to report the horrific abuse of children, least of all for institutions who have been named in the royal commission as failing to prevent child abuse in the past,” it noted.
“This step makes it clear that all members of the community have an obligation to report abuse and do everything in their power to prevent child abuse.”
https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/politics/24171-tasmania-says-confessional-veil-to-be-lifted-with-new-laws?