Tasmania: Denise, Bruce Morcombe push to spread Daniel’s Law while some advocates debate implementation
The parents of a teenager who was murdered by a paedophile want the public to have greater access to information about child sex offenders.
Eight months ago, Queensland implemented Daniel’s Law - a publicly searchable child sex offender register named in honour of the teenager who was murdered by a convicted paedophile.
On Monday, his parents Denise and Bruce Morcombe’s campaign for such registries to exist nationwide took another step in Tasmania.
“We know that Daniel Law’s is going to help keep Tasmanian children safer because the community and police will be working together,” Mrs Morcombe told a parliamentary inquiry.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The inquiry is examining the Tasmanian government’s proposal to enact the state’s own version of Daniel’s Law.
The laws would allow parents or guardians to ask police if a person who has regular, unsupervised access to their child is listed on the sex offender register.
They would also give police greater powers to monitor the activities of offenders online and in the community.
In its first six months in Queensland, the Daniel’s Law website had more than 381,591 visits and 44,472 locality search applications, Mrs Morcombe said.
Three offenders were subsequently charged for alleged obligation breaches.
There had been no rise in vigilantism against offenders, despite concerns, and the laws had successfully protected the identity of survivors, Mrs Morcombe said.
Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe’s abduction and murder by a twice-convicted paedophile in 2003 could have been prevented by a public registry, his parents said.
However, two Tasmanian sexual assault survivor support services have raised concerns about the proposed laws.
Laurel House, one of the services, is opposed to the implementation of a public disclosure scheme for offenders, saying overwhelming evidence shows such schemes do not make children safer.
Such registers don’t reduce repeat offending, shift unnecessary responsibility to parents and carers and perpetuate myths that offenders are more likely to be unknown to families.
“In reality, most sexual offenders are not on registers and, rather than being strangers, are most likely to be known to victim-survivors,” the organisation said in its submission.
There were also concerns around criminal liability if people who received disclosed information shared it with others, it said.
Sexual Assault Support Service said more information was needed on how the public disclosure system would work, given existing laws allow people to ask for information about offenders.
“We do not question the role of disclosure as part of a safeguarding response (but) the need for a separate application-based disclosure pathway has not yet been clearly established,” they said.
The Queensland laws were based on Western Australia’s three-tier disclosure scheme and added stronger penalties and clearer public access.
The parliamentary inquiry will deliver a report by October 27.
