Child Sex Offender Register Should Be Publicly Available
10th September 2016
“The government are denying access of critical information for the very people that this law was introduced to protect. Knowing who lives in your community and the risk they pose is critical to protect our children and should be public knowledge" Guthrie

Parliament has passed a law to allow the setup of the register, which Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said would safeguard the community. When the register begins operating sex offenders will be required by law to provide a range of personal information and inform Police of any change in their circumstances, which will allow a dedicated team of Police and Corrections staff to know where they are and track changes in their lives.

Guthrie says, “It’s all very well the police and corrections knowing where these offenders live but when the public approach them for information the standard reply will be “Sorry we can’t disclose that information due to the privacy act” so Minister just how does this make our children and the wider community safe”.

The register would operate on a tiered system, with offenders required to be on it for a term of life, 15 years or eight years depending on their offence and the sentence imposed.
Sensible Sentencing Trust’s National Spokesperson for Child Abuse Scott Guthrie said any sex offender should be on the list for life. “Although the creation of a Sex offenders register is a good thing, the way it has been set up is “Offender friendly” and seriously doesn’t give our children any safety network.”

“If corrections are happy to dump sex offenders in our communities right next door to schools and play grounds why would the police care where these offenders live?”

“Once again we have a ticking time bomb waiting to explode”. Guthrie said

Mister Tolley says, “The safety of children comes before everything else, and we now have another tool to make sure they aren't harmed” but Scott Guthrie disagrees and says the legislation, in its current form, will not achieve the aim of protecting children from known dangerous offenders.
“Sensible Sentencing Trust reiterates that the sex offender register must be available to the public through the Police and calls on the government to rethink its stance now before another child is abused”. ENDS

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