Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell says parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse desperately overdue

Legal experts and victims are calling for Daniel Andrews to launch a full-scale inquiry into child sex abuse allegations “rife” within government schools.

The Victorian government is facing pressure to launch a full scale parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse within its schools.

It comes as Daniel Andrews will on Monday meet with victims abused at Beaumaris Primary School which has emerged as a haven for paedophile teachers in the 1970s.

The meeting comes after months of lobbying and just days after the Premier vowed to issue a landmark apology to all victims of abuse in government schools.

Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell, who has been lobbying the government for action on behalf of victims, said the state opposition saw the meeting as an important first step.

But he said a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry into the scourge was desperately overdue.

Multiple inquiries, including the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, have largely ignored offending in government schools.

The Victoria Parliament’s 2013 report into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations did not include Government organisations.

Beaumaris Primary School was a haven for paedophile teachers in the 1970s.

“It’s one thing to meet with victim-survivors, it’s quite another thing to understand the full scale of abuse in Victorian government schools and to respond in a measured, considered and comprehensive way,” Mr Rowswell said.

“The government should immediately announce a dedicated parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse within the Victorian government school system.

“They should set a reporting deadline of the last parliamentary sitting day of 2023.

“Following this, an apology should be issued in the parliament by the Premier on the first sitting day of 2024.

“Given the trauma that many hundreds – perhaps thousands – of Victorians have experienced at the hands of the Victorian schools system, it’s so critically important to understand the scale of abuse and to hear of these harrowing stories directly from victim-survivors themselves.

“Why are these victim-survivors any less worthy of their stories being told than those sexually abused in non-government institutions?”

Beaumaris Primary School emerged as the epicentre of the abuse crisis in Victorian government schools, with at least four known offenders working there in the 1970s.

Calls for the inquiry have been backed by victim survivors and legal experts, including some set to meet with Mr Andrews on Monday.

Shine Lawyers Abuse Law Practice Leader, Amy Olver, said the Premier’s words would be meaningless without real action.

Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell.

Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Gary Ramage

“These predators masquerading as school staff have had a truly heartbreaking impact on so many innocent lives,” she said.

“Children should have been safe at school, and yet in some cases institutions were little more than hunting grounds for monsters.”

Ms Olver said Shine Lawyers represented a number of clients whose lives had been shattered by the abuse they suffered at state run schools.

She welcomed the government’s pledge of an apology to survivors, but said words needed to be backed by strong action.

“We need to fully understand how rife this offending was in government schools,” she said.

“As a society, we can’t shy away from what survivors endured. We owe it to them to shine a light on the injustice of the past,” she said.

Sources close to a police investigation involving one of the teachers say the alleged offending was an open secret, and multiple complaints were made about the teachers at the time.

But they have accused the Department of Education of either doing nothing, or shuffling the teachers between schools or regional education offices.

It has been estimated more than 100 children may have been abused at Beaumaris Primary School.

The Department’s handling of abuse claims at the time has been likened to the way the Catholic Church notoriously shuffled paedophile priests between parishes for decades.

The Victorian Department of Education is currently facing multiple legal actions over its handling of paedophile teachers.

The state government has confirmed a formal apology will be made later this year to survivors of all forms of abuse in institutional settings.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes is leaving the door open to support an inquiry into the matter. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Meanwhile, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes has left the door open to support a parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse in government schools.

Ms Symes also acknowledged the entire process to establish a formal apology for all victims of historic abuse in government in school has taken too long.

She said there was “some merit” to concerns about the lengthy process to conduct an official apology.

“I think there’s some merit in that,” she said, when asked if the apology had been long overdue.

“We know there are historical instances where people have come forward.

“This particular school have been calling for attention for some time and I think it’s timely to respond now.”

Ms Symes said the government was “always open” to having conversations about other ways to assist victim survivors.

She said the prospect of a parliamentary inquiry, as called for by shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell, may be considered.

“We’re always open to having those conversations and I think the Premier has demonstrated that by his commitment of going out there today and listening to those people,” she said.

“I never like to say yes or no until I’ve seen the details of a proposal (but) the parliament is well placed to do a range of things.

“We’re there to represent the communities who have elected us to be there, and if this is a priority for the community then that’s something we should certainly seriously look at.”