Heartbreaking letter from teen sexual abuse survivor exposes Aussie shame
A letter written by 17-year-old country girl Pippa Milthorpe has exposed the dark truth about our justice system that needs to change. Warning: Distressing
EXCLUSIVE
Six years.
That’s how long the Milthorpe family has been pleading with the NSW Attorney-General’s office to expand a program designed to make court less traumatic for children in sexual offence cases.
Sexual abuse survivors Rose Milthorpe, 14, and Pippa Milthorpe, 17, from Albury in regional NSW, are demanding the program be made accessible to any child in the state who has reported sexual abuse.
They say it’s “discriminatory” that country children and children from remote and regional areas cannot access the program despite being at increased risk of abuse.
Justice shouldn’t hurt, but for children in Australia, it does. The NSW government knows how to fix this problem, but has failed to do so. That’s why news.com.au is calling for law reform to make it easier for child victims of sexual abuse to give evidence. Join the movement and sign the petition here.
Justice Shouldn’t Hurt: End ‘postcode justice’
It’s called Postcode Justice: the idea that a person’s access to justice or support is conditional on the postcode or Local Government Area (LGA) they happen to live in.
And for Rose and Pippa, ‘postcode justice’ is simply not acceptable.
“We live in a rural community, we live in a small town, so we don’t really have access to certain services,” says Pippa.
“With the pilot program it’s only available at the moment to people in Sydney and Newcastle. Obviously a lot of people in New South Wales don’t live in the cities. It’s an injustice in itself not being available for everyone. So we think it’s important that it gets to every corner of New South Wales.
“We want the Attorney-General to hear how the court process affected us, and it was in more negative ways than positive.”
In September, having launched a petition to extend the program for all NSW children, the family travelled 554km from Albury to Sydney, so the girls could personally deliver a handwritten letter to the current Attorney-General, Mark Speakman’s office. It read in part:
We know that the pilot [program] exists and we believe it is truly a huge step forward. We believe this pilot [program] should be available for all children in NSW, not just the metro kids. This being unavailable for regional kids is unjust.
Why are you allowing some children to continue being traumatised by a process that you are the head of? We ask that you make this pilot program available to all children in NSW – help them to try to get some justice by providing them with the opportunity to give evidence in a safe and supported environment that recognises that they are children and helps them all start their healing journey sooner.
The girls were both hopeful. After all, in 2017 an evaluation by UNSW academic Professor Judith Cashmore had found that the program was a huge success.
Even more promising, in 2018 Mark Speakman himself had tweeted that the “Child Sexual Offence Evidence Pilot will become a permanent program after UNSW evaluation”.
âš–ï¸ The @NSWDstCt Child Sexual Offence Evidence Pilot will become a permanent program after #UNSW evaluation: less trauma + better evidence from children through use of witness intermediaries, pre-recorded evidence + specialist judges https://t.co/bhmhhGBD4N#auslaw#nswlawpic.twitter.com/jE27PDURnk
— Mark Speakman (@MarkSpeakman) November 18, 2018
But after five weeks of waiting for a response, on October 25 this year the sisters received a reply. No firm commitment was forthcoming.
Instead Mr Speakman thanked Pippa for taking the time to write and said he was “grateful” for her “representations and views” adding that he has asked “the Department of Communities and Justice to consider these matters in detail and provide me with further advice”.
However there was no offer to meet or commitment to expand the program.
“It was a generic response,” says Pippa. “It just reiterated everything we already know and it didn’t address my concerns or answer my questions.”
News.com.au has contacted the Attorney-General’s office to ask why the program hasn’t been expanded outside of the two trial locations but did not receive a response before publication.
In 2013, Pippa and her younger sister Rose both reported to police that they were being sexually abused by a family friend. They were aged eight and five respectively. Charges were laid in relation to both sisters and another two unrelated children.
However, the case took more than two years to proceed to court, and when it did, funding ran out for the girls’ support person to be present. Instead the sisters faced days of traumatising cross examination without their parents allowed in the room, before a juror fell asleep forcing the need for a new jury to be empanelled.
Eventually the accused paedophile was convicted of six counts of aggravated indecent assault against Pippa Milthorpe. He was acquitted of four charges of aggravated indecent assault in relation to Rose Milthorpe
Both sisters say that despite the partial conviction, the court process left them utterly traumatised and scarred to this day.
“We have decided to speak out because we don’t want another child to have to go through it,” says Rose. “We had to go back to court this year to fight for the right to say our own names and we did it, because we want the Attorney-General to listen to kids’ voices and make court less traumatic for children.”
I’ve sent letters every year for six years
The sisters have the full support of their older sister, Maggie, who was a witness at the trial, as well as both parents, Michelle and Brent Milthorpe.
“We are very proud of our girls and will support them in this, just as we have every step of this journey,” says Brent.
Following the 2016 trial, Michelle wrote to the former NSW Attorney-General, Gabrielle Upton, urging her to consider expanding a program which had been introduced in March that year, and which was already having promising results.
“I first contacted their office within days after having a verdict in May that year. I told them we never expected this experience of court to be what it was,” says Michelle.
“During our court case, the Detective who worked with us told me about this amazing pilot program and he said ‘I’m just so disappointed that your kids are not eligible to be involved in it because it sounds great.’
Michelle heard back from Gabrielle Upton’s office but there was no indication as to whether the program would be expanded. Michelle has since written letters every year for the past six years.
“They send me the same stock standard letter telling me about the pilot program and how wonderful it is, and that’s fantastic for any child who is able to access it through the Downing Centre or Newcastle court.
“But what about country kids? Why isn’t it being rolled out to every child in NSW? Why are some children still being allowed to be traumatised by a system that’s not working? I don’t know how the Attorney-General can be OK with that.”
Six years is too long
A lot can happen in six years.
According to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) data, in the six years to June 2022, 59,072 children were sexually abused in NSW.
Tragically, this averages 27 children per day in NSW experiencing some form of sexual abuse.
Yet in the last six years, only children whose court matters were heard in two LGAs – Newcastle and Sydney – were eligible to access the program.
According to the BOSCAR data, of the approximately 60,000 children who were sexually abused in NSW in the past six years, only 4.1 per cent (or 2428) came from the Sydney or Newcastle LGA.
This suggests less than 1 in 20 children who could have potential need for the program are eligible to access it.
The program has already received outstanding evaluation from independent academics at UNSW who say that the use of intermediaries, recorded evidence and specialist judges reduces wait time and trauma.
We had to fight to say our names
In June this year, frustrated by lack of movement on the issue, Rose and Pippa decided they would start a petition.
Then they hit a roadblock. Even though both girls are now over the age of 14 (the minimum age required by NSW law for a sexual abuse complainant to be able to consent to be named in media) legal technicalities involved in their case meant that Rose and Pippa would need to return to court to fight for the right to self-identify in media.
With the assistance of news.com.au and the #LetUsSpeak campaign, the girls fought for and won their right to say their own names. The process cost about $45,000 in legal work which the family say they would never have been able to afford by themselves (donations to LetUsSpeak can be made here).
“We wanted to say our names because there’s no shame,” says Pippa. “We have no shame in what happened to us. We know that although it took a long time to realise, it’s not our fault, we did nothing wrong.
“Justice should be a healing process. It shouldn’t be a retraumatising process. So we created a petition which was approved by our local member, Justin Clancy, and we basically have to get 20,000 signatures. So we’re just asking everyone to help.”
In support of the Milthorpe’s journey, news.com.au is launching our exclusive Justice Shouldn’t Hurt campaign and we are calling on the NSW Attorney-General to expand the Child Sexual Offence Evidence program throughout all of NSW.
Already 15 experts have joined our call for action, including the former Federal Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell AM, Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston AM, Rape & Sexual Assault Research & Advocacy CEO, Dr Rachael Burgin, Full Stop Australia CEO, Hayley Foster, current Bravehearts CEO Alison Geale, as well as Professor Judith Cashmore AO who evaluated the program in 2017.
“The program should not be regionally restricted,” says Professor Cashmore, who is now based at the University of Sydney Law School. “It shouldn’t be a postcode lottery as to whether you have access. It is an equity issue that children across NSW who need it, should have access to it.”
“It’s amazing to be getting that support from so many people who are not just passionate about young people, but who have spent their lives trying to make this a better process,” says Michelle Milthorpe.
“Now we need everyone else to understand. We need everyone to realise this is an issue that could impact them. That we are doing this for the kids that come after ours.”
Nina Funnell is a Walkley Award winning journalist and sexual assault survivor advocate who has created the Justice Shouldn't Hurt Campaign in exclusive partnership with news.com.au.
Contact us: ninafunnell@gmail.com
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