ACT Greens: Child abuse laws

The ACT Greens will introduce legislation making institutions such as churches, sporting clubs and scout groups liable for child sexual abuse committed by volunteers and other non-employees under their control.

Greens leader Shane Rattenbury MLA will introduce the bill into the Legislative Assembly later this month, to close a gap exposed by a recent High Court decision, Bird v. DP, which found that institutions could avoid taking responsibility for abuse by people who were technically not employees, such as priests or volunteers.

“The bill I’m introducing will remedy this in the ACT so that children who were abused by those people can receive justice…” Mr Rattenbury said. “It is about ensuring institutions make amends for the harms caused on their watch.

“Powerful and wealthy institutions like the Catholic Church cannot continue to arm themselves to the hilt with lawyers and worm their way out of compensating the little children who were abused in their organisations.”

Distinguished Professor Ben Mathews, from Queensland University of Technology, called the proposed laws “a modest yet essential clarification” that brought ACT law into line with other Anglophone countries, and “an important advance” that could be a model for other Australian jurisdictions.

The Grace Tame Foundation and activist Harrison James, co-founder of the Your Reference Ain’t Relevant campaign, also welcomed the bill.

ACT Budget: Domestic violence

The ACT Government will budget more than $30 million to respond to domestic, family and sexual violence.

Treasurer Chris Steel MLA said the investment would boost the capacity of frontline services, improve early intervention for children and young people, and provide culturally safe support for Indigenous people.

The Budget allocates $24 million over four years to strengthen services such as the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre and the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled and led Organisations will receive $6 million over three years to provide culturally safe services.

Dr Marisa Paterson MLA, minister for the prevention of family and domestic violence, said the government was committed to ending the national emergency of violence against women.

DVCS CEO Sue Webeck said the long-term funding commitment would provide certainty for services such as hotel crisis accommodation, a 24/7 crisis line, and support for victim-survivors in criminal justice proceedings.

“This funding commitment means frontline services like ours can get on with delivering the services that make a critical difference in supporting our community in response to domestic and family violence,” Ms Webeck said. “We thank the ACT Government for taking the steps to secure this commitment.”

However, she warned that demand continued to outstrip capacity: DVCS now received 1,100 requests for assistance every month — up from 850 three years ago — and the crisis line was at capacity.

“We risk missing those in our community at the critical moment they might need our services,” Ms Webeck said.

Canberra Liberals: Government overspend

The Canberra Liberals have accused the ACT Government of presiding over a budget blow-out of more than $427 million since February, the equivalent of $3.5 million per day.

Shadow treasurer Ed Cocks MLA said the figures show the ACT Government is “spending more than it earns year after year”, and warned that ACT taxpayers face higher taxes due to growing deficits and debt.

The additional spending includes $387.7 million contained in February’s Appropriation Bill and a further $39.4 million approved since the passage of the Financial Management Act 2025. That legislation, introduced by Mr Cocks, requires the government to notify the Assembly within five days whenever treasurer Chris Steel uses its emergency spending powers.

According to the released Section 18 instruments, the $39.4 million covers $34.1 million for Transport Canberra and City Services (fare shortfalls, city maintenance, libraries, and Fix My Street) and $5.3 million for the Canberra Institute of Technology (to offset reduced revenue and higher staffing costs).

Mr Cocks argued that the continued reliance on Treasurer’s Advance funding shows that the government has “lost control” of spending, with net debt exceeding $9 billion and a deficit nearing $1 billion.

In response, Mr Steel said the Treasurer’s Advance was a contingency in between budgets to manage pressures arising through the year, and that there was no additional spending above the existing appropriation.

Ginninderra Falls

Community groups are calling for Ginninderra Falls, closed since 2004, to be reopened to the public and protected as part of a new national park, as the privately owned site near West Belconnen goes on the market for the first time in 40 years.

Two petitions — one to the ACT Legislative Assembly, sponsored by ACT Greens MLA Jo Clay, and one on change.org, signed by more than 1,500 people — urge the ACT and NSW governments to purchase the land and incorporate the falls into a national park that includes the Murrumbidgee and Ginninderra gorges.

The proposal is supported by Senator David Pocock, the ACT Greens, and the ACT Conservation Council.

The Ginninderra Falls Association has lobbied for 13 years for public access to the falls, but its president, Dave Kelly, said their efforts had fallen on deaf ears.

“Surprisingly, the ACT Government has not considered the potential tourism benefits from reopening Ginninderra Falls, nor have they discussed public access with the NSW Government and Yass Valley Council,” Ms Clay said. “This is why the community is taking action.”

Filmmaker Benny Plunkett is making a documentary about the falls to raise public awareness.

Ray White, which is handling the sale, declined to comment directly on the petitions, but is marketing the property as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity for private ownership, development, or reopening to the public.