Rape claim ruling
opens way for trauma actions
Jewel Topsfield and Orietta Guerrera
A LANDMARK High Court decision has opened the doors for
potentially millions of dollars in lawsuits by people who suffer psychological
illness many years after a traumatic event.
They will be able to seek compensation after the court allowed a woman to sue Aboriginal leader Geoff Clark, who she alleges raped her 35 years ago.
Carol Anne Stingel, 51, will now
sue Mr Clark in the Victorian County Court for damages over a delayed onset of
post-traumatic stress disorder she says was caused by the alleged rapes.
Her lawyer, Dr Viv Waller, of
Maurice Blackburn Cashman, said the High Court decision yesterday set a
"significant legal precedent".
It gave hope to others suffering
psychological injuries who might otherwise be told their cases were out of
time, she said, including victims of childhood sex assault and former naval
personnel suffering post-traumatic stress disorder following the collision of
HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager in 1964.
"All of the claims have been
hanging in the balance," Dr Waller said. The High Court decision meant
claimants would get the opportunity for a hearing.
Ms Stingel alleges Mr Clark was
the leader of a pack of men who gang raped her in March and April 1971 at the
Warrnambool Municipal Gardens and a nearby beach. Mr Clark has strenuously
denied the claim.
Ms Stingel yesterday said she was
"over the moon". She said the ruling was also a victory for others
who had suffered psychological trauma as a result of childhood sexual assault.
"It has been a long and hard
struggle and it is not over yet," Ms Stingel said.
Almost four years ago, Ms Stingel
launched legal action against Mr Clark and the Victorian County Court ruled she
could sue Mr Clark.
However, that decision was
overturned last year by the Victorian Court of Appeal, which said the legal
time limit in which to bring civil action had expired. A Victorian statute of
limitations prevents legal action being taken more than six years after an
injury is suffered.
Ms Stingel argued that she
developed post-traumatic stress disorder only in 2000, after she saw media
reports about Mr Clark's appointment as chairman of the now disbanded
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
The Court of Appeal decision was
overturned yesterday by the High Court, which held Ms Stingel was within the
six-year limitation period when she brought damages claims against Mr Clark in
2002. Mr Clark did not return calls yesterday.
A lawyer
for Jack Stafford, the former chief naval shipwright on HMAS Melbourne who died
in 2004, said the decision would end the six-year fight for compensation for Mr
Stafford's widow.
Lawyer David Forster said Mr
Stafford's executor was suing the Commonwealth over post-traumatic stress
disorder suffered by Mr Stafford.
He said Mr Stafford first knew in
2000 that his psychological injuries stemmed from the collision, which resulted
in 82 deaths.
Mr Forster, who represents 80
other former crewmen from Australia's worst peacetime naval disaster, said the
Government should mediate the remaining claims as a matter of urgency.
"It is a shame that the
Government is determined to oppose the claims by the Melbourne sailors in the
hope they will die before justice is done," he said.
Mr Stafford's daughter, Annette
Wright, said she was delighted by the High Court decision.
"My father devoted his life
to the navy and you would have hoped the Government would not have wanted to
put a dying serviceman through such unnecessary stress," she said.
Angela Srdinis, of law firm Ryan
Carlisle Thomas, who represents several child sex assault victims, said the
decision gave them a "very good advantage in pursuing claims".
She said at least one client, who
claims he suffered abuse in a boys' home in the 1960s, had been "sweating
on the decision".