Susie O’Brien: Former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle should be forced to answer questions
The women waiting for action over their claims of sexual assault against former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle are being failed by the system, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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Former lord mayor Robert Doyle is well enough to drink red wine in the up-market cafes of leafy Albert Park.
Yet he still claims to be too sick for investigators to question him about serious sexual assault allegations. Let’s hope Victoria Police has better luck in forcing him to respond to a mounting chorus of alleged victims.
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We now know the Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team is investigating sexual assault claims against Doyle from six people, dating to the 1970s and 1980s when he was a teacher at Geelong College.
A new complainant emerged over the weekend, detailing a disturbing allegations of Doyle being drunk and lecherous at a function when he was Liberal opposition leader in 2003. The Australian interviewed a woman who claims he put his hand on her knee and thigh and moved it close to her groin.
It’s alarmingly similar to other claims dating back many years.
Ian Freckleton, QC, concluded last year Doyle groped two Melbourne City councillors, Tessa Sullivan and Cathy Oke. Freckleton made four findings of sexual inappropriate misconduct against Doyle, including that he touched Sullivan’s breast in a car and repeatedly touched Oke’s thigh and tried to kiss her. Doyle resigned as lord mayor soon after Sullivan’s claims were made public, citing ill health.
A second investigation into Doyle’s behaviour at a Melbourne Health dinner is still incomplete because he claims he is too sick to co-operate. A real estate director says Doyle touched her on the thighs and groin while at a function with her husband. These allegations deserve proper investigation and yet the woman remains in limbo. This is despite the fact that the man leading the investigation, Charles Scerri, QC, said he had “no reason to doubt, and at present does not doubt, the veracity of the complainant”.
Over the weekend, the woman said she had lost faith in the council and had gone to police. She’s one of the six complainants.
I don’t blame her for feeling abandoned by systems that are meant to support and protect her. She told the Australian Financial Review she decided to go to police after being told the investigation into her allegations was still a long way off. However, she says she was told it could be ended sooner if she agreed to confidentiality.
Such treatment, which protects the powerful and punishes victims, suggests those in positions of authority have learned little from Doyle’s shocking fall from grace or from the #metoo movement.
It’s disappointing that Lord Mayor Sally Capp recently confirmed the council made a confidential payment to a third woman as a result of Doyle’s behaviour, but won’t say how much or what for.
The real estate director says she would never have come forward if she knew Doyle couldn’t be compelled to answer the claims against him.
Doyle hasn’t been charged with any crimes, but his refusal to take part in the Melbourne Health investigation into his conduct means he hasn’t been cleared either. He was asked five times to co-operate but each time refused on medical grounds.
In fact, Doyle is going to great lengths to stop the report from being released, arguing in a Supreme Court case the council had no authority to investigate his conduct at a function because he wasn’t present in his official capacity as lord mayor. His lawyers are also arguing the release of the report would further damage Doyle’s health, citing his “serious and ongoing medical condition”. Again, no one seems concerned about the impact on the woman’s health.
Sexual harassment and sexual abuse are serious crimes. If Doyle is innocent, as he claims, then why doesn’t he want to clear his name?
It’s not about getting rid of individuals behaving disgracefully — although this is a good start — it’s about changing institutional cultures so complaints are handed efficiently and effectively.
Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton admits complaints of sexual harassment are up by almost 20 per cent, reflecting “the complete inadequacy of our entire system for dealing with and responding to matters of sexual harassment”.
“We need a better system for prevention but also for accountability, one that affords natural justice, that is swift and effective, that gives regulators that have expertise and a role in sexual harassment more power and resources to do their job well.”
She’s right.
I’ve spoken to Tessa Sullivan and the real estate director on a number of occasions and they don’t want money or publicity. All they want is for justice to be done, and to be seen to be done.
Often, these cases teach sexual assault victims that powerful men with deep pockets can escape accountability.
The system must change, and finding a way to force Robert Doyle to respond to the mounting number of serious allegations would be a good first step.
Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist.
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