Child sex offenders who manage to go undetected for years should be punished in line with modern standards instead of the more lenient laws of the past, young lawyers in NSW say.
The NSW Young Lawyers group has told the child sexual abuse royal commission it's inappropriate to apply historical standards when sentencing child sex offenders who committed their crimes many years ago.
The group's chair Liam Cavell said maximum penalties for historical cases are typically much lower than contemporary standards.
"That's based on an unfortunate misunderstanding about the damage that this type of offending has on victims," he said on Tuesday.
"To continue that approach is to perpetuate that misunderstanding."
Mr Cavell said the current approach of punishing offenders according to the sentencing regime in place at the time of their crimes creates a gulf between community expectations and the judicial system.
It undermines public confidence in the system and doesn't encourage victims to come forward, he said.
"We don't believe that offenders should receive the benefit of being successful in avoiding detection for a number of years," he said.
However, the NSW Law Society opposed the stance, with member Penelope Musgrave telling the commission that a person should be sentenced in accordance with historical standards.
""It (the Law Society) disagrees, and it does acknowledge that at the time a person committed that offence, that was the context in which they were committing it," she said.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has turned its gaze to the criminal justice system and how it deals with child sexual abuse.
On Monday, the inquiry heard that just eight to 15 per cent of all child sexual assault matters reported to police result in a conviction, according to studies.
NSW is currently trialling a three-year, $28 million scheme where child victims are supported by qualified witness intermediaries and can give evidence at pre-recorded hearings instead of during trials.
NSW Detective Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans told the commission that in one recent NSW case, a witness intermediary was instrumental in getting a girl with cerebral palsy to give full disclosure about her abuse to police.
"As a result of that disclosure, the (accused) person pleaded guilty and got a custodial sentence," Det Insp Yeomans told the commission.
"That more than likely wouldn't have happened unless for that intermediary."
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
