Australia cricket board apologizes to survivors of sexual assault

• The Australian cricket board has apologized to victims of child sexual abuse.
• The apology comes weeks after convicted paedophile Ian King was jailed.
• Lachlan Henderson said historical child abuse was “an appalling issue”.

Australia Cricket Board has expressed regret to sport-related survivors of child sexual abuse and encouraged its members.

To participate in a national restitution program.

The apology comes weeks after jailed former cricket coach and convicted paedophile Ian King had nearly three years added to his sentence over an historical sexual offence involving a teenage boy.

Cricket Australia’s chair Lachlan Henderson said historical child abuse was “an appalling issue” that society and many sports, including cricket, were grappling with.

“We can’t change what happened but we need to do what we can to assist victims,” Henderson said in a statement on Monday.

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“I want to apologies on behalf of CA to anyone who experienced sexual abuse while participating in Australian cricket.

“We now have a strict set of policies and procedures around child safety, but we need to make sure we are assisting anyone who has experienced abuse in the past as best we can,” the statement continued.

CA is pressuring the states and territories that make up its membership to join a redress program that was established by the Australian government in 2018 to provide compensation for institutional child abuse victims.

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The CA board is presently looking into further methods that Australian Cricket may help abuse victims, Henderson continued. “We are encouraging all states and territories to join the National Redress Scheme (NRS),” he said.

According to a Monday article in the Sydney Morning Herald, only Western Australia has joined the NRS.

Cricket ACT, the sport’s governing body in the Australian Capital Territory, submitted an application to join the programme in 2020, but it was denied due to concerns that it had the resources to provide victim compensation.

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