Sex offenders gain access to children through Aboriginal meeting places

Registered child sex offenders are visiting Aboriginal meeting places running cultural tours for schoolchildren, raising community fears that youngsters are being exposed to potential abusers.

The Age can confirm two sex offenders have recently been visiting government-funded charitable organisations that run children’s programs – Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association on the Mornington Peninsula and a second organisation that cannot be named for legal reasons, also in Victoria.

A person with knowledge of the issue but who is not permitted to speak publicly to protect their job said they feared child abusers were slipping under the radar when joining Indigenous meeting places – or community organisations – which often accept new members on-site without any requirement to do background checks.

In some cases, the source said, children’s programs, including school tours, were run within metres of men’s groups.

Aboriginal meeting places are not subject to child safety requirements, and while volunteers must have Working with Children Checks as part of state government funding agreements, members who visit the centres do not.

In one recent case, a convicted child sex offender was visiting Willum Warrain in Hastings for a year before government departments and the police were made aware.

The Aboriginal meeting place runs a range of community events, including men’s groups, bush nurseries, play groups and cultural walking tours for primary school children, and provides visitors and volunteers access to secluded bushland.

When asked about the case, Willum Warrain chief executive Peter Aldenhoven confirmed the registered sex offender joined as a member in December 2022 and attended the organisation’s Christmas party that month.

He said staff were unaware the man was on the sex offenders register at the time.

Aldenhoven said the organisation learnt in March 2023 that the man might have been a convicted sex offender and contacted the Commission for Children and Young People for advice on how to respond.

The man, Aldenhoven said, was permitted to continue as a member with a “risk mitigation strategy” in place that allowed him to attend the meeting place as long as he was never left alone.

In late 2023, the man was told not to return after community concerns were made known to the board.

Aldenhoven said that during the man’s attendance at Willum Warrain, any potential contact with children was managed using the risk management strategy.

However, he said this did not include the man’s attendance at the Christmas party in December 2022, which was before staff learnt of his criminal history.

“The gathering place has not bolstered its background checks for community members. The board, however, has implemented a new policy as of January 2024, that if members are found to be on the sex offenders register that they will be asked to leave the gathering place and not attend programs and events,” Aldenhoven said.

“No community organisations are legally required to undertake checks of community members.”

A police spokeswoman said the Frankston sexual offences and child abuse investigation team received a report on January 16 flagging concerns about a member of an organisation attending events that included children at Hastings.

The matter was investigated and no offences were found to have been committed, the spokeswoman said.

While the organisation and police maintain that the man did not have any contact with children while on-site, photographs seen by this masthead, which have since been deleted from social media, show the man watching children perform and posing for photos with youngsters.

In a press release issued last Friday, Willum Warrain said anyone on the sex offenders register was now barred from joining its organisation.

“The board of not-for-profit charitable organisation Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association has tightened its rules of accessibility,” it said.

“This follows revelations that a registered sex offender – a member of the community – had been attending cultural programs at the centre in Hastings.

“He was never at the centre on his own, rather always in the company of his carer or staff. No incidents involving him have ever been reported.”

A state government spokesperson said Working With Children Checks were fundamental to ensuring Victoria has both a paid and volunteer base that can safely perform child-related work.

“Our funding agreements with volunteer organisations and organisations that involve volunteers require WWCC compliance,” the spokesperson said.

The Age understands that the funding agreements do not require Working With Children Checks for members.

A spokeswoman for the second organisation said it ran its men’s group and adult community engagement programs on separate days to when children were present at the centre.

“We’re very deliberate in what we do. We pride ourselves on keeping our children safe,” the spokeswoman said.

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