A nationwide therapeutic service?

The first federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held its first hearing in Melbourne last week.

The hearing delved into the process behind the royal commission’s investigation into the epidemic of abuse that affected thousands and spanned decades in Australia.

The main aim of the royal commission, led by Justice Peter McClellan, is to investigate systematic failures within church and state-run institutions relating to child sexual abuse and related matters.

Chris MacIsaac, a spokesperson for victims group Broken Rites, believes the royal commission has been a long time coming for those victims who want to bring a sense of closure and healing from traumatic instances of sexual abuses covered up by institutions.

“I think it is an exciting time for people who have been trying to have claims heard by different institutions. I hope this royal commission will open the door and allow this to happen and have a measure of justice outside of the circle,” she said.

For Nicky Davis, 49, a victim of sexual abuse and leader of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), she said the royal commission is 30 years overdue. Ms Davis said she hopes the entire legal system can be reformed to aid victims rather than pedophiles.

“We need the royal commission because our legal system, police departments and courts are not dealing with these problems, [and] not dealing with this suffering and suppression,” she said.

The commission was initially set up by Prime Minister Julia Gillard following Detective Inspector Peter Fox’s shocking allegations about child sex abuse and cover-ups within the Catholic Church and police force.

However, there has been some criticism the focus of the commission is fundamentally flawed, with claims its only purpose is to provide an outlet for emotions rather than investigate how institutional failures facilitated abuse. Questions remain whether systematic changes preventing further instances of abuse will be made.

Professor Stephen Smallbone, a psychologist and Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University, is of the belief that the royal commission could be a major opportunity lost.

“From what I’m hearing, the main focus of the royal commission is on reparation for past victims, and whilst a no-brainer, the real opportunity is to learn from that and prevent victimisation in the future for children who have not been victimised yet,” he said.

“The real focus they need is on how institutions themselves can be organised in ways that allow abuse to occur … those types of lessons are really important and are a particular way of looking at the problem that is solution-focused for the future, rather than problem-focused on the past.”

These concerns were made even more apparent when reports surfaced the royal commission was unlikely to reach its conclusion by the allocated June 2014 deadline because there were so many victims that needed to ‘tell their story’.

“I don’t want to sound unsympathetic, but there is a risk of the commission being hijacked by the suffering of the past,” said Professor Smallbone. “While we need sympathy and concern and reparation … these are not the main game, and the best thing to do is to include past victimisation in a positive way to make systematic changes in the way institutions are organised.”

But Ms Davis claimed the past was crucial to preventing further instances of abuse occurring in the future.

“It would be extremely counterproductive for victims to be told ‘sorry we are not going to look into that’ … [or] your story is not important to be told. That would be devastating to the healing process … we need to look at the past because that is the only way we can understand the right changes.”

Philip Hilder, a psychologist who works with childhood sexual abuse and trauma survivors in Sydney, insists “it may or may not be a sense of closure for people”.

“For some it may be a necessary part of getting matters addressed … but they will keep suffering the effects of being so damaged and betrayed by these institutions,” he said.

Mr Hilder hopes the royal commission will have an emphasis on healing by “exposing and acknowledging the historical nature but also tightening supervision and regulatory structures that can prevent such matters happening”.

“The last thing survivors of abuse want to see is further children being hurt by these institutions,” he said.

The majority of institutions who are the subject of investigation by the royal commission were unwilling to comment on the situation when contacted by City Hub. However many have released statements endorsing the royal commission and have indicated willingness to assist with enquiries.

Victims who wish to share their experience with the commission can call 1800 099 340 between 8am and 8pm or email solicitor@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au