Legal gaps hinder holding public servants to account in abuse cover-up

(Image: Getty)

Tue, 20 Aug 2024

The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care found that public service leaders spent time and taxpayer resources in a cover-up and then legally fought survivors to protect the Crown’s financial liability and their reputations.There have been calls for these leaders to be found personally accountable, but experts say our laws do not appear to be written with that kind of accountability in mind.Theoretically, an official could be sued for “misfeasance in a public office”, but such cases are rare and difficult to prove.The law does gi...

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