Nine males pleaded guilty to raping a ten-year-old Aboriginal girl in the community of Aurukun in Cape York, Queensland in 2006 yet none of the offenders, who were tried in Queensland District Court, will serve a custodial sentence.

Six boys were sentenced to 12-month probation orders, with no convictions recorded, while three others aged 17, 18 and 26 were given suspended sentences. The Queensland Crown Prosecutor Steve Carted described perpetrators as "naughty" and the act as a "childish experiment" to which the victim willingly consented. In her sentencing statement, Judge Sarah Bradley stated that the girl was "not forced" and "probably agreed to have sex" with the offenders.

While appalled at this judgement, Amnesty International welcomes the Queensland Government's action to address this matter, including the decision to stand down the Queensland Crown Prosecutor pending an investigation into his handling of the case, the Queensland Attorney General's intervention for the case to be appealed, and the review of 75 similar cases over the past two years. However the case demonstrates the urgent need for reform of the judicial system to better protect girls' right to live free from violence.

Amnesty International Australia has been campaigning for a National Plan of Action and welcomes the Rudd government's commitment to a national plan. We are calling on the Australian Government to:

  • Ensure the national council to oversee the national plan includes indigenous representation
  • Develop a national plan to ensure prosecutors, judges and other personnel are adequately trained in dealing with issues of sexual violence
  • Consider the implementation of specialist sexual assault courts, in which child survivors are provided with an advocate.

This case highlights a need to ensure all legal personnel, including prosecutors and judges, are properly trained to treat violence against women and girls as grave human rights violations . Amnesty International Australia has been campaigning for a National Plan of Action. The new federal government have committed to a National Plan - let's hope we see a national strategy for training of all legal personnel and a commitment to ensure the human rights of girls in Indigenous communities are protected. The commitment to review all such cases in this jurisdiction is an important step.

Read an opinion piece by Hannah McGlade and Kylie Cripps, Safety of kids is priority , approaching the case from a human rights perspective and providing analysis and recommendations.