- A tough new stand on child abuse could see colleagues of offenders jailed
- People who fail to protect a young person from abuse could be jailed for years
- This includes teachers, childcare staff, coaches – anyone working with children
A tough new stand against child abuse could see any adult working with children jailed for five years if they fail to protect them from a predator.
The recommendations from the royal commission into child sexual abuse calls for any people working with children to be jailed if they fail to protect them from coworkers.
The rules will include everyone from the canteen lady, to teachers, sports coaches and childcare workers, The Daily Telegraph reports.
A tough new stand against child abuse could see any adult working with children jailed for five years if they fail to protect them from a predator (file image)
‘A duty to protect … is aimed at preventing child sexual abuse,’ said the Justice Department in a new discussion paper.
‘This is different to the offence of failing to report, where the sexual harm to the child has already occurred. In some situations, reporting suspicions to police will not be enough.
‘The royal commission determined that a person should be criminally liable if they negligently fail to take other available steps to reduce the risk to the child.’
Recommendations include a crack down on grooming offences, removing remaining limitation periods on some historic child sex offences and developing a targeted failure to report offence.
The recommendations from the royal commission into child sexual abuse calls for any people working with children to be jailed if they fail to protect them from coworkers (file image)