There have been 658 reports accusing teachers of sexual misconduct, violence and “damaging behaviour” in the past financial year, a nearly 70 per cent increase on the previous year, but the number found guilty of “serious crimes” came to seven.
The Victorian Institute of Teaching’s latest annual report said those allegations include claims a registered teacher engaged in sexual offences against or in front of a child, sexual misconduct, physical violence, behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child or neglect of a child.
There has been a surge in educators being accused of serious offences, according to the teaching watchdog.
But the teachers’ union and the children’s commissioner are at odds over the reason for the big increase in complaints, with the former claiming many of the reports are frivolous.
The Independent Education Union says the big increase in reportable conduct allegations is because of pressure put on school leaders to formally report every and any concern raised with them, and that teachers were being reported for “trivial” matters.
The Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan, however, says the rise in reports could be because awareness of child abuse and reporting systems are improving.
The Commission for Children and Young People was responsible for passing on the majority of the complaints – 654 – to the teaching watchdog.
Buchanan said: “Our best guess is it is a combination of growing awareness about child abuse, combined with better systems for identifying potential abuse.
“We’ve noticed over the life of the reportable conduct scheme where there is a particular event or incident or particular publicity about a child subject, that is often followed by an increase in reporting from that sector.”
She pointed to the inquiry into historical allegations of abuse at the Beaumaris Primary School, which widened to include other government schools, led to a massive increase in reporting of abuse at public schools to the commission.
Seven teachers were found guilty of serious crimes, and the teaching watchdog subsequently cancelled their registrations, effectively ending their careers. “Serious crimes” could include sexual offences against children, offences related to child abuse material, grooming, murder and attempted murder.
A VIT spokesman said: “If it is believed a teacher poses an unacceptable risk of harm to students, they will be placed on an interim suspension and an investigation will commence immediately.”
He said every accusation was taken seriously, and every student has the right to feel safe and supported at school.
According to the watchdog’s report, there were 44 teachers issued with an interim suspension, which means the watchdog holds a reasonable belief the person poses an unacceptable risk of harm to children.
Another eight teachers’ registrations were suspended when they were charged with serious offences, including sexual crimes against children, and four had their registration suspended after they were charged with crimes including violence and drug offences, or sexual offences against an adult.
Those decisions are reviewed every 30 days to determine whether the suspension should be continued.
The union said the small number of teachers found guilty of serious crimes shows many of the complaints don’t meet the threshold of reportable conduct.
“The huge discrepancy between the number of reports and the number of suspensions demonstrates the sheer volume of matters reported that are trivial, vexatious or simply don’t meet the threshold of being reportable conduct,” IEU spokesman Simon Schmidt said.
“However, every one of those reported employees is put through an extended, invasive, confidence-sapping process, which can often involve lengthy stand-downs from work.”
In one instance, a performing arts teacher was stood down for months when a parent accused them of grooming a student, after the year 10 pupil unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in a senior production. The teacher returned to work after six months, when the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated.
Parents also made a complaint against a secondary school educator teaching sexual health, using appropriate terms and adhering to the curriculum. That teacher was stood down for nearly a year, according to the union.
Buchanan believes the reportable conduct scheme, introduced in 2017, made sure any alleged abuse was thoroughly and fairly investigated.
“That includes that it’s fair for the people who are subject to the allegation,” she said.
Buchanan said 30 per cent of allegations went on to be substantiated, and the scheme existed because various inquiries found schools and other organisations did not take complaints seriously, dismissed them or even concealed them.
“I would say if anybody saw what I see in terms of the extent of … sexual misconduct against children, the extent of grooming of children, the extent of harm still sadly perpetrated on children in organisational settings, then they might understand that we still need a fairly rigorous scheme to make sure that these allegations are looked at closely.”
Melbourne University’s Daniela Acquaro said despite the big increase in allegations, the actual number of teachers found guilty of serious crimes is small.
“The reality is we have thousands and thousands of teachers out there and few have done anything wrong,” she said.
Acquaro, whose research focuses on teacher education and educational leadership, didn’t believe authorities were unnecessarily dragging out investigations of teachers.
“Whether it’s frivolous or serious misconduct, you need to take time to investigate,” she said.
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