Portfolio — 13 May 2026

Assistant Minister for Defence Peter Khalil moved the second reading of the Treasury Laws Amendment (the Survivors Law) Bill 2026 in the House on 13 May, delivering the government's most substantive parliamentary step yet on financial redress for survivors of child sexual abuse. The centrepiece of the bill is a targeted closure of an existing loophole that allows convicted child sexual abuse perpetrators to effectively shield assets inside their superannuation, placing those funds beyond the reach of victims holding civil compensation orders [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s027].

The mechanism Khalil described is precise: where a compensation debt remains unpaid after twelve months, the victim may seek a court order compelling the release of the offender's superannuation contributions — covering both personal contributions and salary-sacrifice amounts — to satisfy the outstanding debt [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s027]. The bill achieves this by amending the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and related Commonwealth legislation, giving courts an explicit enforcement pathway that does not currently exist.

A second, complementary reform ensures that compensation debts of this kind survive bankruptcy, closing the route by which a perpetrator might otherwise discharge the obligation through insolvency proceedings [TA-260513-house-ee1b85aea947:s027]. Khalil framed the legislation explicitly around survivor engagement, stating the government's view that meaningful consultation with survivors produces better policy — a signal that the bill's design has been shaped partly through that process.

The observations from the parliamentary record flag that the bill sits at the intersection of Finance, Treasury, and Attorney-General domains, though Khalil presented it solely in his ministerial capacity without sub-portfolio disaggregation. No prior context candidates are available for this window, so the Note reflects this single parliamentary contribution alone.