Nearly three years after a court ruled convicted paedophile and former Bega Cheese boss Maurice Van Ryn pay $1.4 million in damages, the victim has yet to see a cent.
Van Ryn was convicted of abusing nine children between 2003 and 2014. He was later convicted of abusing a 10th child in 2019. In total, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
In 2023, the Supreme Court awarded the 10th victim $1.4 million in damages for the abuse he endured in Van Ryn’s home in Tathra, on NSW’s South Coast.
Van Ryn declared bankruptcy in December that year. The victim-survivors are unable to access hundreds of thousands of dollars he had in superannuation through a civil compensation claim.
New laws could mean superannuation is no longer a protected asset for convicted child sex abusers under civil law, closing a loophole that victim-survivor advocates say is long overdue.
The draft laws, which opened for public consultation on Monday, will enable victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to seek access to extra personal or salary sacrifice superannuation contributions if court-ordered compensation remains unpaid after 12 months.
The reforms will allow compensation debts to survive an offender’s bankruptcy if they have been found guilty of child sex abuse.
Announcing the draft laws on Monday afternoon, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the government was cracking down on perpetrators.
“There can be no opportunity for criminals who are convicted of child sexual abuse to avoid paying compensation to their victims,” she said.
Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino said the draft laws reflected the tireless work of survivors and advocates.
“Victims of child sexual abuse deserve to receive the court‑ordered compensation they are entitled to,” he said.
Consultation on the draft laws will close on February 20. The long-awaited legislation was first promised by former financial services minister Kelly O’Dwyer in 2018.
The Super for Survivors campaign, led by Webster’s Lawyers partner Andrew Carpenter, Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia founder Adam Washbourne, and abuse survivor, actor and advocate Madeleine West, has advocated for a change in the law since 2020.
“With one in three girls and one in five boys being abused before their 18th birthday, significant consequences of losing super may finally result in offenders thinking twice before they abuse children,” Carpenter said.
“It’s a win for victim-survivors across the country as it shows the web is closing on all sex offenders.”
The group will continue to advocate for the laws to be extended to compensate all victim-survivors, not just those whose abusers have been convicted.
“This is a crack in the door which will give justice to victim-survivors, but our job will not be done until that door is kicked in,” Carpenter said.
A 2019 Deloitte study estimated that violence against children and young people cost $11.2 billion for cases in NSW alone.
Survivors face an uphill battle in seeking compensation and justice.
In 2021, Lee Jones sought compensation from her father, Arthur Oakley, who was convicted of sexually abusing her in the family’s western Sydney home in the 1970s.
Instead of finding justice, Jones was told she would have to pay upfront fees north of $20,000 for Oakley to be represented due to his mental incapacity, while her address and Medicare details were sent to him unredacted. The court also placed a suppression order on Jones’ case, preventing her from talking publicly about her abuse. The Herald successfully applied to have the suppression order lifted.
Meanwhile, the notorious paedophile who abused former Australian of the Year Grace Tame when she was a student is unlikely to face trial on cyber-harassment charges.
Nicolaas Bester was found guilty of sexually abusing Tame when she was a student in 2011. He was later convicted of having child exploitation material.
In 2022, he was charged with harassing Tame on social media. On Monday, lawyers and prosecutors agreed that due to his dementia and multiple strokes, falls, and a brain clot, there was insufficient evidence to show Bester was fit to stand trial.
The Super for Survivors campaign is supported by the Grace Tame Foundation.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
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