SPECIAL LEGAL CONTEXTS

• Jurisdiction: Australia

[63.1000] Overview

There are a number of legal situations which present specific scenarios for professionals and we will briefly comment on these.

Family court

In the Family Court of Australia, allegations of child sexual abuse are frequently raised. Additional complexity occurs in the investigation of child sexual abuse, particularly in children of an age where it is difficult for them to give a coherent narrative of the events (under five years of age, for example). There may be no corroborating evidence from forensic medical data, interviews or witnesses but the child may still have been sexually abused. This sometimes does not become known until years later. The least complicated situation occurs when there is an investigative process and an individual (usually one of the parents) is charged and then convicted of child sexual offences against one of the subject children. Professional experience is that these cases often hinge on confession by the perpetrators. Expert opinion can be sought with regard to recidivism risk in child protection matters, although in our experience this is unusual.

Another situation is where there are...