Victorian government will issue formal apology to state school sex abuse victims

After mounting pressure, the state government has revealed when it will make a formal apology to public school sex abuse victims.

The state government has revealed when it will make an informal apology to victims of sex abuse in public schools.

The Andrews government is set to issue a landmark apology to victims of sex abuse in the state’s government schools.

Victoria remains one of just three state governments not to have formally apologised to victims from government schools.

But Daniel Andrews is set to issue the formal apology following months of mounting pressure by victims who say they have been shunned by the government.

The Premier is also set to meet with victims abused at Beaumaris Primary School which has emerged as a haven for paedophile teachers in the 1970s.

At least four known offenders have been identified as working together at the school in the 1970s, with an active police investigation on foot regarding one of the men.

Sources close to the police investigation 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.

Premier Daniel Andrews is set to meet with victims abused at Beaumaris Primary School. Picture: Gary Ramage.

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.

Latest data shows that of about 1000 claims against the government for abuse committed in Victoria under the National Redress Scheme, about one third of those related to government schools.

“Later this year the Premier will make a formal apology in parliament on the Government’s behalf to survivors of all forms of abuse in institutional settings – including those who were abused in the state’s government schools,” a government spokesperson said.

“When survivors of sexual abuse come forward, we respond compassionately and sensitively to their circumstances – with personal apologies and acknowledgments, direct personal responses when survivors access the National Redress Scheme, and written personal apologies when a formal claim is resolved.”

A group of men from Beaumaris Primary School, and Sandringham MP Brad Rowswell have been lobbying the government for action since last year.

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.

The Victorian government has formally apologised for the past practices in the provision of out-of-home care services and to victims of abuse in connection with the Puffing Billy Railway and other railway bodies.