Child killer laws 'must target inaction' - SMH  -August 17, 2007

Child killer laws 'must target inaction' (smh.com.au)

Proposed tightening of laws for child killers should be expanded to target spouses who turn a blind eye to home violence, a justice group says.

People Against Lenient Sentencing (PALS) president, Steve Medcraft, wants a charge of culpable parenting introduced to prosecute parents who knowingly allow child abuse to continue.

Mr Medcraft said children's lives could have been saved if mothers and parents were more accountable for protecting their children against violent partners.

"Parents have to be responsible for their children's safety and you can't just say 'It's the violent de facto'," Mr Medcraft told AAP.

"If you're a part of that relationship, surely to goodness you can tell somebody or make police aware that the partner is violent towards that child.

"A number of kids would be alive today if a charge like that had of been brought forward or intervention had of been made earlier and there has to be mechanisms in place where parents (can alert authorities).

"There must be some sort of helpline that the government can set up where parents can go to to say that their child is being abused by a de facto or a parent."

The Victorian government is finalising new legislation designed to help encourage sentencing judges to increase prison terms specifically handed down to child killers.

This week the minimum 10-year jail sentence was given to Melbourne man Stuart John McMaster, who bashed to death his girlfriend's five-year-old son, Cody Hutchings.

Mr Medcraft welcomed the toughening of laws for child killers but said it was too little too late.

He accused Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls of "sitting on his hands" for too long and ignoring victims.

It had taken a change of premier for the government to finally act, he said.

"We've been yelling and screaming for a number of years and we've had the door shut in our face. But I think what's happened now is the hinges have broken and the door's come down," Mr Medcraft said.

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