Child sexual abuse in Tasmanian institutions inquiry hears about ‘culture of cover-up’




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“There may have been an active culture of cover up or minimisation to protect reputations,” Maree Norton said. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)

The problem of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian public institutions is much greater than isolated incidents of predators gaining access to children, those gathered at the first day of a new inquiry have heard.

Speaking at the opening of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings in Hobart on Tuesday, counsel assisting the inquiry, Maree Norton, said the work of the commission would have four main focus areas; public schools, hospitals, youth detention, and out-of-home care.

“While each case study will have its own issues, we anticipate that certain themes and lines of inquiry will transcend individual institutions,” Ms Norton said.

She continued that the “information available to the commission invites the conclusion that child sexual abuse within Tasmanian government institutions has consisted of more than just isolated incidents of predators gaining access to children within an otherwise safe system”.

“Rather, we are concerned that such abuse may have been … made possible by structural weaknesses by how these institutions understand and respond to child sexual abuse.”

Ms Norton said that, “at worst there may have been an active culture of cover up or minimisation to protect reputations and institutional interests”.

Commission president Marcia Neave said the commission would largely focus on current responses to child sexual abuse, and provide an “honest assessment” of the Tasmanian government’s responses.

Ms Neave said the commission would aim to ensure perpetrators were held accountable wherever possible.

She said the commission had so far obtained 21,000 documents.

Government schools

Education Department documents associated with a civil court case show two teachers who were the subject of numerous complaints, and who were later convicted of child sexual abuse, were moved from school to school

Ms Norton said the commission would look at whether complaints were referred to police and whether children and their advocates were listened to.

Public hospitals

The focus will be on the Launceston General Hospital where paediatric nurse James Geoffrey Griffin worked for 19 years.

He was charged in 2019 with child offences.

Ms Norton said complaints were made against him as far back as the early 2000s “and periodically thereafter”.

She also said the commission had received allegations of “similar patterns of abuse” at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

How the complaints were handled, and whether there was a deliberate cover up of abuse will be examined.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre

Ms Norton said the commission was aware of allegations of abuse involving multiple alleged perpetrators dating from the 1970s to the present, as well as allegations abuse has been covered up and documents have been destroyed.

She said the commission would also look at allegations of older detainees abusing younger detainees.

The state government has plans to close Ashley within three years, but Ms Norton said it was important to investigate the allegations and potential cultural problems to stop it from happening, either at Ashley while it is still operating, or at the centre that replaces it.

“Many reviews over many years have identified many concerns about the safety of children detained there,” she said.

Ms Norton said one of the reasons it stayed open could be its location in a rural area where it is a major employer.

Out-of-home care

Ms Norton said information already gathered by the commission suggested “children can be at risk from foster carers, Child Safety Services workers, from grooming and other exploitative behaviour from adults outside the system who take advantage of the vulnerability of children inside the system, and also they can be at risk from other children inside the system”.

The commission will also look at:

  • How the state government deals with civil claims of child sexual abuse
  • The processes that led to the standing down of 20 state service employees at various times in the past two years who were subject to child sexual abuse allegations
  • A lack of action or slow progress on implementing some of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommendations
  • Whether the state’s integrity system is equipped to identify, investigate and address issues of child sexual abuse

Ms Norton said it was not the commission’s intention to duplicate previous work that had been done.

“We expect that one of the themes … must be why have past reviews and reports not been able to solve the problems they have identified,” she said.

“Are there cultural and structural reasons why these problems persist, to what extent have Tasmania’s size and demographics affected past responses.”

Public hearings are expected to be held in February and March in Hobart and Launceston, where the commission will hear from witnesses and victim-survivors who want to will be able to share their experiences.

Ms Norton said the commission’s final report — due in August — would provide the government with a “blueprint” for protecting children and it would then be up to the government to make the changes necessary.

Source: Thanks msn.com