Children (Amendment) Bill 2021

Public bill · Private Member · Introduced

The Children (Amendment) Bill 2021 would change the rules on anonymity in child-offence cases. It would allow the media to name a person charged with killing a child where naming them would otherwise identify the child, and it would also let adults who were victims of offences as children choose to give up the anonymity protection they were granted. It matters because it aims to remove an unintended secrecy rule that can hide the accused in child homicide cases and give former child victims more control over whether their own identities remain private.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to amend the Children Act 2001 to permit the publication or broadcast of details pertaining to a person who has been charged with an offence against a child where that child is deceased, and to permit adults who were victims of an offence committed against them when they were a child to waive the anonymity provided for under the Children Act 2001.

Last updated 14 November 2024