Speech delivered by Mr Beckett SC on 19 November 2025 in Sydney, as part of the National Survivors' Day commemorations which took place on 12 November.
Good afternoon everyone, and thank you Joe Stroud particularly for your work as Chair of National Survivors Day.
I pay my respects to the Gadigal as the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on and to the Cammeraygal across the harbour, both part of the great Eora Nation.
I acknowledge their elders, past and present. And I acknowledge and welcome all First Nations people here today.
Acknowledgements
- The Hon. Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales
- The Hon. Jodie Harrison, Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
- The Hon. Mark Speakman, Leader of the Opposition
- The Hon. Natasha Maclaren-Jones, MLC
- Dr Hannah Tonkin, NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner
- Clare Leaney, Co-Founder & CEO of National Survivors Foundation
- I acknowledge in particular our most important guests Survivor–Advocates and National Survivors’ Day Ambassadors Melanie Jai, Harrison James, Nicole Meyer
Distinguished guests one and all.
Thank you for the invitation to join you here at Parliament House.
I am proud to be a joint patron of the National Survivors’ Foundation with my wife Sam Mostyn, the Governor-General.
Your gathering in Adelaide last month was a time for us to learn about the Foundation and to hear survivor stories.
I am honoured to have the same opportunity here today.
As counsel assisting the landmark Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, I witnessed the strength of survivors as they came forward with long hidden accounts of their abuse.
I have not forgotten what I heard and saw.
The survivors I met during the Royal Commission were brave, articulate, persuasive and they possessed great humanity in the face of what they had experienced.
The impact of the Royal Commission’s recommendations on survivors is not my story to tell, but the impact on our country is something we can all recognise.
National Survivors’ Day Ambassador Alyssa James spoke at the Adelaide Survivors event and described her hope for this movement to build, in her words,
‘a culture of belief, not blame;
of support, not silence; and
of action for change, not turning a blind eye’.
I believe that the Royal Commission made a vital contribution to this shift in our public and private response to child sexual abuse.
In private sessions and public hearings, the Royal Commission enabled us to move away from an era where survivors were seen as unreliable and not worthy of belief and where their statements were ignored.
I hope we have moved to a time where survivors are believed and, instead, it is the institutions which must account for any failures.
It is only then that systemic issues which lead to abuse can be addressed and the impact of historic abuse alleviated.
Believing the survivor is foundational to making an effective response to child sexual abuse.
Some of the Royal Commission’s recommendations were rolled out during the life of the Royal Commission, including the announcement of a national redress scheme and the introduction of legislation removing limits on civil litigation. The effect of those changes have been profound and have already assisted many survivors right here in NSW to achieve compensation.
Other recommendations continue to be implemented. I note that the Commonwealth and by State Governments have recently committed to a nationally co-ordinated system of Working With Children Checks.
And I am delighted that the Royal Commission’s assessment of the importance of a National Memorial for Victims and Survivors has been answered with a memorial to be built on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.
In the same spirit of commemoration and recognition seen elsewhere in Canberra, the Memorial will be a place to pause and honour the victims and survivors.
What we must never forget is that for a survivor to tell their story – whether in private or in public – is a momentous step in their life. No matter how many times we may personally have heard such accounts, it may well be the first time that the survivor has revealed what has happened to them. We must respect the herculean effort it has taken to get to that point. We must listen to what they have to say with empathy and understanding. That is what I learnt at the Royal Commission.
There remains much work to be done to prevent abuse, to protect survivors and to achieve redress.
The Governor-General and I are committed to pursuing care, kindness, and respect as a central aspect of modern leadership and public service – so thank you for inviting us to join you on this journey of listening and learning.
[ENDS]