Cabinet not part of PM's decision

JULIA Gillard changed her mind on a royal commission between leaving Bali last Friday and entering the cabinet room on Monday.

JULIA Gillard changed her mind about calling a royal commission into child sex abuse between leaving Bali last Friday and entering the cabinet room on Monday.

Although the Prime Minister's office was advising ministers on Friday that the government was opposed to calling a royal commission Ms Gillard surprised her cabinet colleagues on Monday with her plans.

Cabinet sources have confirmed there was no prior consultation before Ms Gillard's decision to put Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and Families Minister Brendan O'Connor in charge of creating the inquiry.

"I have discussed this with my cabinet colleagues and my cabinet colleagues are very supportive of taking this approach, and so we will in coming weeks work on the terms of reference in a collaborative way," she said on Monday.

But on the previous Friday, while Ms Gillard was still in Bali, her office told Employment Minister Bill Shorten there would not be an inquiry and directed the media to a statement in August saying the same thing.

Mr Shorten told Melbourne radio on Friday: "I am not convinced that having a royal commission is going to fix the faults."

Ministers have confirmed Mr Shorten expressed surprise in cabinet at the quick change of mind but strongly supported an inquiry.

When asked why the government changed its mind between Friday and Monday Ms Gillard said: "As I indicated on Friday when I was overseas, when I returned to Australia I would be further considering this question and I've done so."

The government has made it clear the commission would not duplicate the work of existing authorities by investigating specific allegations and prosecuting them. The focus instead will be on the institutional responses to child sex abuse cases.

"While the royal commission will likely consider the circumstances of specific individuals and institutions through its inquiries, it will not conduct investigations or prosecutions into those matters," the government said.

The update on the Prime Minister's department's website late yesterday also included contact details for the commission.

Ms Gillard's decision drew widespread praise yesterday as the Coalition, the Greens, victim groups and churches backed the royal commission.

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Phillip Aspinall said the evil of child sexual assault needed to be addressed nationally "without fear or favour" while the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia said it was committed to working openly with the commission.

Tony Abbott described the commission as a "step towards healing". "We support it; we encourage it; we want it to work well.

"We want it to look at child abuse, the evil of child sexual abuse wherever it has taken place."

Ms Gillard said that Ms Roxon had been in touch with her state counterparts to discuss the terms of reference but that the federal inquiry would run for "as long as it takes" to do the task.

"We should not set artificial limits on getting this done properly," Ms Gillard said.

Additional reporting: Rosanne Barrett, Nicolas Perpitch