Later this week – and in recognition of one decade since the publication of the Redress and Civil Litigation Report by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – a Sydney-based conference will reflect on improving access to justice for survivors, and what has been achieved in the last 10 years.
The Pathways to Justice for Survivors of Institutional Abuse Conference is set to run from Friday, 19 September, to Saturday, 20 September, later this week.
The event marks 10 years since the publication of the royal commission’s Final Report on Redress and Civil Litigation, and it will consider what law reform has been implemented since, as well as the challenges that remain for survivors seeking pathways to justice by way of civil claims or an application under the redress scheme.
It will offer a full complement of CPD points for attendees.
Among the 50 speakers at the event are: the Honourable Peter McClellan AM KC (retired judge of the Court of Appeal in NSW, who served as chair of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse), Anne Hollonds (National Children’s Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission), and Professor Leah Bromfield (director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection, and 2025 Australian of the Year for South Australia).
In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, Associate Professor of Law Dr Allison Silink said the event’s organisers see it as being critical to provide a forum to take stock after a decade and together, ask the hard questions.
These are, she said, “what has been done since to implement recommendations to improve pathways to justice? Has it worked? What obstacles and uncertainties remain? What is the survivor experience of the processes that have been implemented? What doctrinal developments in the courts are impacting access to justice for survivors? The royal commission’s recommendations aimed to drive legal change but also cultural change to make our institutions safer for children, to improve accountability and to create clearer, meaningful pathways to justice for survivors of abuse – is this working?”
A conference like this is part of the review process into whether these goals are achieved, said Silink, who also serves as a barrister at Level 22 Chambers, and is the chair of the academic committee of the Banking and Financial Services Law Association.
“The papers, discussions and recommendations from the conference will contribute to meaningful review and accountability,” she said.
“This is a unique conference for its broad and inclusive program bringing together government representatives, academics, practitioners, the judiciary, former commissioners, survivor advocates and support services, and institutional representatives in the same room for these important conversations.”
“A critically important aspect of the conference is also the value in learning from, and sharing our experiences with, other jurisdictions. The conference features presentations from commissioners of two other inquiries, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in New Zealand that reported in 2024, and the UK Independent Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which reported in 2022, and lawyers and academics from different common law jurisdictions.”
The anniversary also, she said, serves as a timely point to review the important recommendations it made for improving access to justice for survivors and consider what has happened in the last decade. “The royal commission’s recommendations were not an end in themselves; they were intended to be the starting point for meaningful change,” she said.
Attendees can purchase multi-session tickets that can be used on either day or one-day tickets.
Inquiries about tickets, or the event in general, can be directed to
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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