The Government is to introduce a Bill to strengthen the Crimes Act to deal with violent offending against children, and to modernise the law of assault and injuring, Justice Minister Simon Power said today.
His announcement came after a Law Commission report suggesting a raft of new laws to protect children at risk of assault in their homes was tabled in Parliament.
The report included a law that would hold adults living in a household with a child they knew to be at risk of death, serious injury or sexual assault legally liable if they did not take reasonable steps to protect them.
Mr Power said that late last year he asked the commission to give priority to its review of Part 8 of the Crimes Act -- which dealt with offences against the person, including assaults, injuring and homicide -- and to give particular consideration to whether offences of violence against children needed to be strengthened.
"The new offence of failing to protect a child or vulnerable adult will hold accountable household members who fail to notify authorities of a child or vulnerable adult suffering abuse," Mr Power said.
"Legislation will ensure it will no longer be an excuse to say you were not involved in abusing a child -- the fact that you lived in the household and knew of abuse makes you involved."
Law Commission president Sir Geoffrey Palmer said the way the law stood, there was no legal duty for adults to intervene to protect a child in their home, no matter how outrageous or obvious the ill treatment or neglect might be.
"In our view that is entirely unsatisfactory and needs to change."
The commission also recommended specific assault offences, such as assault on a child and male assaults female be amended.
"We recommend all of these offences be simplified," Sir Geoffrey said.
"Although a few specific offences need to be retained, the majority should be repealed and replaced by three new sections containing six new offences, to cover the whole range of assaults and injuries short of death."
But Mr Power said that at a time when the Government was working to discourage domestic violence, it would be inappropriate to repeal those offences.
"Children are among our most vulnerable members of society - and they deserve special protection. At Christmas - a difficult time for some families - it is timely to remind everyone of this," Mr Power said.
The Bill will be introduced early next year.