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CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 65

CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 65

65—Failure to protect child from sexual abuse

        (1)         A prescribed person is guilty of an offence if—

            (a)         the prescribed person knows that there is a substantial risk that another person (the "abuser") who is also an employee of the institution or, if the prescribed person provides out of home care, who is also a provider of out of home care, will engage in the sexual abuse of a child

                  (i)         who is under 17 years of age; or

                  (ii)         in relation to whom the abuser is in a position of authority; and

            (b)         the prescribed person has the power or responsibility to reduce or remove that risk but negligently fails to do so.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 15 years.

        (2)         For the avoidance of doubt, it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that sexual abuse of a child occurred to make out an offence against this section.

        (3)         For the purposes of this section, a person is in "a position of authority in relation to a person under the age of 18 years (the "child") if—

            (a)         the person is a teacher and the child is a pupil of the teacher or of a school at which the teacher works; or

            (b)         the person is a parent, step-parent, guardian or foster parent of the child or the de facto partner or domestic partner of a parent, step-parent, guardian or foster parent of the child; or

            (c)         the person provides religious, sporting, musical or other instruction to the child; or

            (d)         the person is a religious official or spiritual leader (however described and including lay members and whether paid or unpaid) in a religious or spiritual group attended by the child; or

            (e)         the person is a health professional or social worker providing professional services to the child; or

            (f)         the person is responsible for the care of the child and the child has a cognitive impairment; or

            (g)         the person is employed or providing services in a correctional institution (within the meaning of the Correctional Services Act 1982 ) or a training centre (within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act 1993 ), or is a person engaged in the administration of those Acts, acting in the course of the person's duties in relation to the child; or

            (h)         the person is employed or providing services in a licensed children's residential facility (within the meaning of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 ), or a residential care facility or other facility established under section 36 of the Family and Community Services Act 1972 , or is a person engaged in the administration of those Acts, acting in the course of the person's duties in relation to the child; or

                  (i)         the person is an employer of the child or other person who has the authority to determine significant aspects of the child's terms and conditions of employment or to terminate the child's employment (whether the child is being paid in respect of that employment or is working in a voluntary capacity).