Institutional Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Tasmanian Schools
In June 2021, the Independent Inquiry into the Tasmanian Department of Education’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was released detailing it main findings into the occurrence of sexual and physical abuse by Department of Education personnel in Tasmanian public schools since the 1960s. In summary, the Inquiry found the following major problems in its analysis of the Department of Education’s inaction:
That there were problems with the Department’s records in determining whether the incidences and allegations of sexual abuse in state schools had declined, increased or remained stable over the last five or six decades;
That the Department’s response to sexual abuse complaints between the 1970s to the 1990s was more centered towards protecting itself from legal, financial and reputational risks rather than looking after the concerns of the complainants;
That there has been a failure in the Department’s safeguarding systems in terms of its integration, co-ordination, and executive oversight of all safeguarding activities;
That there has been a lack of training and education of teachers in terms in how sexual abuse in schools might be understood and prevented;
That there has been a lack of prevention principles in all the Department’s safeguarding systems and activities;
That the Department has never had, and still does not have, a schools-specific code of conduct and that internal investigations and disciplinary procedures rely instead on standards set out in the generic State Service Code of Conduct; and
That Principals and professional student support staff did not report on a lot of occasions or were uncertain of their responsibilities in reporting allegations or incidents of sexual abuse to the appropriate authorities.
It has also been reported that sexual and physical abuse was quite extensive within the public education system with complaints dating back to the 1960s and with the Department of Education reporting 194 separate incidents of sexual abuse, and 149 Department of Education employees as being the subject of concerns, complaints or investigations at 92 different schools. Of those 92 different schools, Taroona High School was associated with seven incidents of sexual abuse, Rosny College with six, and Wynyard High School with five.
Moody Law has in the past represented and is still representing clients against the State of Tasmania in matters dealing with institutional historical child sexual abuse.
We invite former victims of sexual abuse at any state school belonging to the Department of Education in Tasmania, to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.
Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.