Final address: Child sexual abuse commission of inquiry to deliver 191 recommendations to government
Tasmania’s commission of inquiry has delivered its closing hearing, announcing it will deliver 191 recommendations to stamp out child sexual abuse in government institutions.
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It’s the end of a “profound journey” - a two-year process in which Tasmania’s government was scrutinised for failing to protect children from sexual predators.
On Wednesday, the trio of legal minds at the helm of the child sexual abuse commission of inquiry delivered their final public address to the Tasmanian community.
It was an opportunity for final remarks before handing over their eight-volume report to Governor Barbara Baker on Thursday.
The 70-minute hearing in Hobart summarised the commission’s 29 months of harrowing work - during which it referred more than 100 people to Tasmania Police and child protection authorities for investigation.
The inquiry focused on the Tasmanian government’s response to child sexual abuse within its institutions - specifically the Ashley Youth Detention Centre, public schools, Launceston General Hospital and the wider health care system and out-of-home care.
Commission president Marcia Neave said the report contained 75 findings and 191 recommendations for the Tasmanian government, “aimed at preventing similar events from happening again”.
The report will be tabled in parliament within 10 sitting days, and will become available to the Tasmanian people on September 26.
President Neave said other than for specific privacy concerns and the right for a fair trial in some instances, the commissioners “hope and expect” the report would be published in full.
She also said the commission supported the government’s decision to close the troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre “as a matter of urgency”.
President Neave said the inquiry had gone through 90,000 documents from government and agencies, and heard from 165 witnesses over nine weeks of hearings in Hobart and Launceston.
“We are grateful to the many people who’ve helped us to understand the terrible harm caused by child sexual abuse, how such abuse can sometimes remain unrecognised or hidden, and how calls for help, complaints, or other attempt to deal with abuse had too often been ignored,” she said.
“If the necessary changes are not made, children will continue to be subjected to child sexual abuse in those institutions.”
President Neave said while Tasmanian children were safer now than in the past, “more work needs to be done”.
She also noted that Tasmanian legislation made it more difficult for the commission to make findings that individuals had engaged in misconduct, or to make adverse findings about the conduct of people or organisations.
“These requirements are out of step with other jurisdictions and make it more complicated for a commission of inquiry to make relevant findings as required.”
President Neave said the Tasmanian government had often responded inadequately to child sexual abuse allegations since the year 2000.
“We have continued to hear examples of poor systems, practices and cultures within government institutions, even as our inquiry has drawn to a close,” she said.
Commissioner Robert Benjamin said the trio of commissioners had been on a “profound journey” meeting with victim-survivors during the inquiry - and that he was “awestruck” by their bravery and commitment.
He also said the report was not the end of the journey, but the beginning.
“This work has both depleted and enriched me,” Commissioner Benjamin said.
“We have sought to produce a report that looks backwards in shame and horror, to learn the necessary lessons, but it also looks forward with hope and determination.
“We hope with this report to have created a foundation to enable Tasmania to construct a much safer place for our children and our grandchildren.”
He said it was now the responsibility of the Tasmanian government and parliament to ensure that the state continued the journey to better protect children and young people.
Commissioner Leah Bromfield said “wide-scale, urgent reform” was needed in Tasmania’s out-of-home care system.
She said it was the only area the commission looked into, in which there had been no significant investment or reform in response to the inquiry.
“We hope that in the future, the Tasmanian government and the Tasmanian community will feel a sense of pride in its child safety systems, rather than a sense that it is constantly catching up.”
Originally published as Final address: Child sexual abuse commission of inquiry to deliver 191 recommendations to government
Teen kept in cell with no mattress, but conditions improving: report
A teenage prisoner was kept in a cell without a mattress or any personal items under an unsanctioned “hostile management regime” at the Risdon Prison Complex, a report has found.
New cabinet incoming after second minister in a week quits
Nic Street has resigned from cabinet because of mental health issues, saying it’s ‘probably the most selfish decision I’ve made in eight years in politics’. What his resignation means for govt.