Did you know that child abusers can currently hide their money in their superannuation funds so their victims can’t get compensated when they sue abusers in the civil courts?
Hopefully, this loophole won’t be open for much longer, as the Federal Government is currently considering options to prevent child sexual abuse offenders from shielding their assets in the superannuation system.
The Treasury published a discussion paper, calling for members of the public to have their say and help canvass reforms that will properly address such practices.
“In recent years, there have been many high-profile reports of convicted child sexual abuse offenders deliberately hiding millions of dollars’ worth of assets in superannuation accounts to defeat compensation claims. This can delay or prevent victims’ and survivors’ access to compensation and further add to their emotional distress”, the paper says.
Would you like to help survivors of child sexual abuse to access the superannuation of their offenders for unpaid compensation orders?
This is now possible largely thanks to the Liverpool-based charity Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia (FACAA), who have teamed up with South Australian lawyer Andrew Carpenter, Grace Tame, Carly Ryan Foundation, and Madeleine West to form the Super for Survivors campaign.
Super for Survivors is a project with one goal, to change the laws around superannuation so that child abusers can no longer hide their assets in their super preventing their victim-survivors from suing them in the civil courts for the compensation they deserve.
If this sounds a bit far-fetched, it is important to know that this has happened more than once.
For example, the confessed child rapist Maurice Van Ryn, a wealthy former CEO of one of Australia’s most iconic food brands, claims to be down to $26,000 and unable to pay his victim survivors the compensation they deserve. However, an investigation revealed he has over $9 million in his superannuation fund!
Also, the fallen Ex-South Australian magistrate Peter Liddy who was sentenced to 25 years for abusing children under the age of 12 and attempting to bribe one of his victim-survivors into not testifying against him, claimed that he had “very little cash left”, despite having a large fortune amassed in his Superannuation fund and dozens of historical artefacts in his personal collection. Seven survivors who were trying to sue him for damages have been told to wind their cases against him up as under the current legislation he has no more assets left for them to seize.
So yes, this shocking loophole needs to be closed, and it needs to be closed now.
It seems the Australian Government agrees with the Super for Survivors team as the Treasury Department released the consultation paper on this sensitive topic.
Therefore, here is your chance to have your say and help close this loophole once and for all. Simply follow the link above and put your submission in to tell the Treasury how you feel about the law as it stands, currently allowing child abusers to avoid paying compensation to the victims. The deadline to submit your responses is Thursday, 16th of February 2023.
FACAA will be launching more legal reform campaigns in the future and KNL will keep you updated on how you can help change our laws for the better.