How many and what diversity of voices of a community, should a government seek out and listen to, prior to establishing terms and parameters of a royal commission or board of inquiry? Premier Daniel Andrews and his government informed key industry bodies and sectors, that the Premier's engagement with the Beaumaris community had been "extensive", prior to announcing the Beaumaris Board of Inquiry. The reality was the Premier's engagement only included three survivors.

Numerous members of the Beaumaris survivor community who asked to be engaged by the Premier, when it was common knowledge this was happening, were not included.  Whilst "extensive" being used to describe only three people is troubling, what was also troubling to the Beaumaris community, was the lack of diversity in representation.

Namely, no diversity in gender, the then Premier speaking with male survivors only. Given girls are over represented in child sexual abuse statistics, and female victim/survivors of Beaumaris Primary and other government schools, were not represented in Premier Andrews engagement. Nor were families of deceased victims.

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The Victorian government has an extremely poor track record, when it comes to the implementation of recommendations regarding child sexual abuse.  

The Victorian Government’s response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is dismal. In summary, the Victorian Government:

• accepted 128 recommendations where all elements of the recommendation were supported
• accepted in principle 165 recommendations where the Victorian Government supported the intent or merit of the recommendation but did not necessarily support the method for achieving the policy
• stated that Victoria would give further consideration to 24 recommendations where further analysis was required for the Victorian Government to determine its position
• has already stopped reporting on what the Victorian governement has or hasn't, implemented.

Of 317 Royal Commission recommendations this translates to the Victorian Government not accepting 60% of them in full.

The Victorian government’s rejection of how to achieve 60% of desperately needed change and outcomes, reflects a lack of seriousness and sincerity about child sexual abuse. 

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Ms Heenan, Deputy Secretary of Family Safety Victoria, directed us to engage with Child Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) regarding the outcomes our petition. We have been doing so for over three years now, as part of advocacy for what our petition seeks. Given SASVic also supports the implementation in full of recommendation 9.1 of the Royal Commission. Clearly the Victorian government, and not SASVic, are responsible for its implementation.

So we have repeated to Ms Heenan, what our petition seeks. 

We are inviting The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas MP, the Victorian Minister for Health, to meet with the petition organisers, to discuss what a meaningful, restorative investment in the lives of survivors, families, partners and the communities impacted, can look like. Including funding the facilitation of the co-design of responses, with those impacted.  

Our vision includes piloting frameworks of accessible and integrated service systems that are already working well elsewhere in Australia, and in the world, in a couple of Victorian communities devastated by historic, systemic institutional child sexual abuse. The Ballarat community, and the Bayside communities of Melbourne.

We are also asking The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas to work with the relevant decision makers within Victorian State and Federal Government, to ask that they collectively fund a person-centred approach to survivors, their families and communities, that requires knocking on just one door. Designed around the holistic needs of individuals and families, that provides victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse with "no wrong door."

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Thank you to all our supporters! Three years to even get a government response may feel like a lack of progress, but sadly it is not.

Now we've got a door to the Victorian government opened, our foot is well and truly jammed in the doorway, to keep communications ongoing!