An extraordinary ABC Investigations article by By Russell Jackson details why the Victorian government must revisit its recently announced Board of Inquiry, and the Premier's formal apology to survivors of institutional sexual abuse, planned for later this year. As the article provides evidence of decades of systemic child sexual abuse in Victorian government schools, and the Department of Education's systems and processes that protected the perpetrators ahead of children.
And how, even today, the Department maintains a culture of coverup, through vast amounts of relevant information that should be held by the Public Records Office of Victoria, currently being withheld by the Department.
The article also details the Department's appalling "war of attrition" approach to the redress scheme and civil litigation, that heaps unnecessary harm and damage on individuals and their families, whom have already suffered for decades.
The Department's "goto" response:
said it was "not aware of it but acknowledges and deeply regrets any instances where this may have occurred" -
is not a mea culpa. It is quite the opposite.
The Department, and the Government as a whole, is willing to say sorry if it turns out it needs to, but lacks the political will to conduct its own investigations, to acknowledge, and then act on, what it is actually saying sorry for.
The Victorian Government's appalling record on the implementation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (of 317 recommendations, the government did not accept 66% of them in full), is testament to when the government has detailed knowledge of the 'why' and 'how' to take action on institutional child sexual abuse, it has overwhelmingly failed to do so.
Board of Inquiry
"In response to what Premier Daniel Andrews has labelled "vile, evil and incredibly damaging abuse", the Victorian government announced a board of inquiry to investigate historical sexual abuse at Beaumaris Primary School in Melbourne's south-east.
"Andrews said the government was aware of at least three former staff members of the school who had allegedly engaged in “predatory behaviour,” making the school a “unique case” which deserved a separate apology to that planned for other victim-survivors of abuse in institutional settings like orphanages and missions. He said the inquiry’s scope could be widened to include allegations at other schools if evidence was uncovered."
The ABC's investigation by Russell Jackson tragically confirms what society already knows about child sexual abuse in institutions, that what happened at Beaumaris Primary School is not "unique", nor "more damaging", and therefore not deserving of a separate investigation and apology.
We support:
- Stuart Grimley's call for "a root and branch investigation he and others considered necessary", when he was a MP in 2022.
- The need for a "single school" investigation", was based on the false premise that what happened at Beaumaris Primary School "is unique."
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Lawyer Michael Magazanik's views that the district inspector system is particularly worthy of scrutiny, not just for shuffling offenders within the government school system but elsewhere too.
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And "the key finding is obvious and doesn't need an inquiry – the Education Department in Victoria was not that different to the Catholic Church in the disgraceful way it handled abuse issues."
"In a statement responding to questions from ABC Investigations about whether it would consider broadening the Beaumaris inquiry, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said:
"We were always clear that if other similar situations come to light we are open to expanding the inquiry".
Our call for action regarding the planned Board of Inquiry
The Victorian Government has a Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC) which provides formal advice to the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to better prevent and respond to family violence in Victoria.
- Victoria urgently needs a Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council that provides formal advice on institutional and other non-family related child sexual abuse to the Premier, relevant Ministers and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to better prevent and respond to non-family related child sexual abuse in Victoria.
- That this Board includes lived experience of victim/survivors, family and other secondary victims/community members.
- That the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council for institutional and other non-family related child sexual abuse, is engaged in a review and revision of the Board of Inquiry scope and objectives.
Planned Apology
The Department of Education's it was "not aware of it but acknowledges and deeply regrets any instances where this may have occurred", is not an apology.
If the the planned apology by the Premier later this year is the same empty and incomplete apology, provided by the Department of Education, it will do more harm than good.
Because the Department of Education's apology to survivors and families didn't take any responsibility for their historic actions, and also continuing actions to deny and coverup what happened. Whilst expressing deep regret, the Department offered no promises to take actions, such as an investigation, and to enusre it won’t happen again.
Our call for action regarding the planned Apology
A Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council is established, that provides formal advice on institutional and non-family related child sexual abuse to the Premier, relevant Ministers and other decision-makers on service design, policy development and law reform to better prevent and respond to non-family related child sexual abuse in Victoria.
That this Board includes lived experience of victim/survivors, family and other secondary victims/community members.
- That an established Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council for institutional related child sexual abuse is engaged in the planning of the Premier's Apology.
- That this Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council for institutional related child sexual abuse engagement includes the timing, and scope of the apology.
Ensuring beyond the Premier saying he is sorry:
he acknowledges the facts of what he is apologising for,
demonstrates ownership for what happened,
acknowledges the scale of the harm caused, and
what actions have already been taken and are also planned to happen, to enabling justice that leads to healing, and
actions to ensure prevention of it happening again. - The apology includes details of the failures of the Department of Education to be model litigant, and what actions have been taken and are also planned to happen, to address and prevent these failures happening in the future.
We continue to make formal representations to the Office of the Premier regarding the outcomes our petition seeks, and our concerns about the planned apology and Board of Inquiry.
We are so grateful for all our Petitioners and your support, thank you.