Jeremy Rockliff,
Premier
- Institutional child sexual abuse has caused enormous harm to many Tasmanians. To all survivors of child abuse who shared their personal experiences through the Commission of Inquiry, and to all those who spoke out on behalf of others to ensure their voices were heard, we thank you for your strength and courage. Our state is deeply indebted to you for your bravery in coming forward, in speaking to the Commission in the hope that the abuse and injustice you have suffered never happens again.
- I also wish to acknowledge the courage of all past and current staff who have come forward to the Commission of Inquiry to talk about their experiences.
- Victim-survivors have been abused by the very people who were supposed to care for them, and they were failed by the system that is meant to protect them. It is time for change; time to reflect on some of the most painful moments in our State’s history; and time to build a culture in our institutions that will ensure it is not repeated.
- The Commission calls upon us to deal with the deep failings in our systems and institutions, which have persisted over many decades.
- It calls upon us to confront the many instances where our institutions were entrusted with the task of caring for our children and young people; and failed in that responsibility.
- It calls upon our Tasmanian community to actively engage in compassionate listening and learning, with profound empathy and genuine care.
- Most importantly, it calls upon all of us to take responsibility for tackling the deep and insidious causes of child sexual abuse in our community, and for safeguarding the innocence and wellbeing of our children for generations to come.
- The safety of children and young people is not an aspiration—it is a fundamental human right.
- I want to reiterate the apology this Parliament gave on 8 November last year to victim-survivors of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian Government institutions: we are deeply sorry to all those who have suffered abuse in Tasmanian institutions, and to your families and loved ones. We failed you. We are all accountable. And we are sorry.
- But we know that words are not enough.
- Today, I reaffirm our Government’s commitment to implement every one of the Commission’s 191 recommendations.
- As a Parliament, we must share the commitment to work together to ensure we make changes to protect children in this State that endure for all time.
- Our actions must give meaning to this Report; and they must reflect the hope that I have—even on this dark day—for a better future for Tasmania’s children, and a better future for our State.
- Our Government established the Commission to find, examine and expose the failings that have caused and contributed to the appalling abuse of children in our institutions. The Commission, in its Final Report, examined the period 2000 to 2020 in particular.
- I want to once again thank members of the Commission: Commissioners Neave, Benjamin and Bromfield, and their staff, for their dedicated work over the course of almost two and a half years.
- You have shown us how the voices of children and young people were routinely ignored; you have demonstrated how a culture of silence and silos allowed child sexual abuse to persist and pervade; and you have made it clear the efforts of successive governments — our laws and our funding — simply were not good enough. The truth is powerful. Now we know where we have failed, and what we must do.
- Over the course of the Inquiry, the Commission conducted 37 days of public hearings and held more than 120 sessions with Commissioners. 165 witnesses were examined and over 260 statements were received.
- The Commission received over 95,000 documents from the Government and agencies during the hearings and considered issues across four types of institutions: schools, out of home care, youth detention and health services.
- Today I confirm the only omissions made to the Commission’s Final Report are those requested by the Commission.
- In its closing hearing on 30 August 2023, the Commission of Inquiry made two restricted publication orders under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1995. One of those orders recommends the omission of certain material from the Final Report before it is published.
- On 25 September 2023, Her Excellency, as Governor-in-Council, omitted part of the Final Report consistent with the Commission’s recommendations.
- The Commission’s recommended omissions relate to Volume 6: Children in health services, Chapter 14: Case Study 1.
- The full Final Report will be published once the relevant criminal proceedings, including any appeal, are finally determined or disposed of.
- The Commission of Inquiry referred over 100 people to authorities during its inquiry; and the report outlines allegations of abuse perpetrated by 34 individuals.
- The scope of these allegations extends from serious criminal allegations to allegations relating to disciplinary matters, such as alleged breaches of the State Service Code of Conduct.
- For legal and privacy reasons, we are not able to release detailed information at this stage.
- But I want to assure the public that our law enforcement, regulatory and other agencies are aware of each and every one of these persons that have been identified to date.
- Tasmania Police has checked the identified alleged perpetrators to determine whether matters have been reported, via various means, for investigation, court proceeding or other outcomes.
- Registration to Work with Vulnerable People have reviewed and matched (where relevant) alleged perpetrators against current and past applicants and registrants under the RWVP Scheme.
- The Department for Education, Children and Young People has checked the Child Protection Information System to determine if the alleged perpetrators are recorded and flagged in the system as a person believed responsible for causing harm to a child or young person. DECYP has also checked identified perpetrators who are alleged to have perpetrated abuse against children or young people in schools, out of home care and youth detention to determine their current employment status.
- In relation to criminal allegations, I note that a number of the persons referred to in the report have already been charged and convicted.
- Ten matters have been brought before the courts throughout the time of the Commission, and other criminal allegations are known to police.
- Heads of Agencies are also in the process of considering the information in the report.
- If there are matters that may constitute a breach of the State Service Code of Conduct, the relevant Head of Agency will consider the available information and where appropriate, commence an investigation.
- Those assessments are underway.
- The Report answers four core questions in relation to the Tasmanian Government’s responses to institutional child sexual abuse.
- Firstly, it finds that Tasmanian Government institutions are generally safe for children and young people.
- Overwhelmingly, the people who work with children and young people do so with their best interests first.
- But the Commission also found that more can be done to improve the safety of children in our schools and hospitals and the safety of children in out of home care, and of Aboriginal children in our institutions, and that this work should be a priority.
- Secondly, the Commission also found that the response to allegations and incidents of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian institutions has been, too often, inadequate.
- Too often, institutions did not effectively manage active risks to children and young people, or extend adequate care when they disclosed abuse.
- Thirdly, the Commission found that not often enough are our systems effective to address risks and respond to child sexual abuse in institutions into the future.
- And fourthly, the Commission found that there is not always a culture that encourages feedback, reporting, monitoring and reflection when responding to incidents of child sexual abuse, or that empowers children and young people to have a voice.
- Now that we have the Commission’s recommendations, we will use these to strengthen the protective framework to safeguard our children into the future. We will approach this task with commitment and with compassion.
- We will need to undertake this change together and through a child-safe approach where all children and young people have bright lives and positive futures because they are known, safe, well and learning.
- Our Government is absolutely committed to undertaking this change in a manner that involves and empowers children, young people and adults who have experienced child sexual abuse to truly influence the decisions that affect them.
- I am here as Premier, as I know we all are, for our children and for the generations of Tasmanians to come.
- Collectively, we must all be bold, and brave as we implement much needed change. To tick a box against the recommendations is not enough, I want Tasmania to be nation‑leading when it comes to keeping children and young people safe.
- The Report makes it clear that the Tasmanian Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework will be a key part of our protective architecture.
- Indeed, the Commission said the establishment of the Framework would be “the most important strategy to prevent abuse within organisations and improve responses to complaints, when made.”
- The Child and Youth Safe Organisations Framework will apply to organisations that work with children, including government agencies, religious institutions, schools, out of home care and justice and detention services.
- The Framework will require organisations to take specific steps to keep children safe and respond effectively if incidents of harm occur.
- Our Government passed legislation to implement this Framework in May 2023, and the Framework will come into effect from next year.
- The Commission has recommended that the monitoring and oversight functions of the Independent Regulator should form part of a broader Commission tasked with ensuring that the rights, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are promoted and protected.
- To build a child-safe future for our State, we must empower children and young people to influence our systems, and we must continue to hear the voices of those who have suffered abuse in our systems and institutions.
- In line with the Commission’s recommendations, we will refine and strengthen our existing governance arrangements to ensure children and young people and adults who have experienced child sexual abuse can have a voice and are part of changing a system designed to benefit them.
- Our governance structures will be revised to include new advisory councils to enable representatives of key groups to speak directly to our State’s leaders as we develop a child-safe future.
- One matter the Commission identified is that children and young people are too often undervalued, dismissed and disrespected in our society, and that this has contributed to disclosures of abuse being brushed off or not believed.
- To the children of Tasmania, who are the future of this State—this report must strengthen the resolve of all of us in this Parliament to consider your needs, and listen to your voices, as we work hard to build a positive future.
- More generally, we will empower our children and young people by implementing a best-practice child sexual abuse prevention curriculum in schools, not only to educate children and enable them to identify abusive behaviours, including grooming, but to ensure they have the confidence to tell someone when they don’t feel safe.
- We must also remove barriers to sharing information that have made it easier for evil to hide in the shadows.
- The Commission said it found ‘too many examples’ of poor coordination and information-sharing across agencies.
- Sometimes, these issues were caused by legislative barriers. In other cases, individuals did not share information because of cultural or perceived barriers.
- We cannot effectively prevent risks to children unless we can piece information together to form a complete picture.
- While there are practicalities and issues to work through, our overriding priority must be the protection of children.
- In line with the Commission’s recommendations, we will review our laws to remove barriers to sharing information.
- We will develop clear guidelines, and make changes to culture and practice, so that our agencies can share and respond to the information they receive.
- Our Government remains steadfast in our commitment to keep Tasmanian children and young people safe.
- We are deeply aware of the significant responsibility we have to the Tasmanian community and to those who have experienced trauma and abuse, who are seeking justice, healing and lasting change that will prevent the recurrence of such profoundly distressing events.
- Responding to the recommendations of the Commission will require widespread and fundamental change across Tasmanian Government agencies and systems.
- There are actions that we can take now to address urgent issues—and I will speak about those actions in a moment.
- But I also want to make clear that the process of transforming our institutions, our systems and most importantly our culture, will take time.
- If these changes are to be effective and to endure, we need to get this right.
- The Commission itself has said: “while we agree there is little time to waste, we also consider it is important that the Tasmanian Government be strategic and coordinated about its reform agenda to make sure it leads to the transformational change needed.”
- We need to get this right.
- In December this year, our Government will outline our detailed plan for implementing the Commission’s recommendations.
- The implementation plan will provide clarity and certainty for the Tasmanian community and those who have been affected by child sexual abuse on the actions and timeframes for responding to the Commission’s recommendations.
- We are committed to being open, transparent and accountable as we move forward with these changes.
- To keep the community informed about the Government’s response to the Commission of Inquiry Report, we have established a Keeping Children Safe website.
- The Keeping Children Safe website contains information including:
- Supports available to people impacted by abuse;
- The processes and timeline for the release of the report;
- How to report if you believe a child is at risk of harm; and
- Actions already underway to improve how we protect children in our care.
- This will also be the site where the Government provides details of its plan for implementing all of the Commission of Inquiry’s 191 recommendations.
- Responding to child sexual abuse in our institutions will remain a whole-of-government priority, and we will work to further define clear lines of accountability for enacting change.
- The Commission has recommended that the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet will be responsible for endorsing, overseeing, coordinating and reporting on a child sexual abuse reform strategy and action plan, and all Secretaries will be responsible for implementing reforms according to their portfolio responsibilities.
- These responsibilities will be reflected in the performance agreements for Heads of Agencies and Statements of Duties for relevant executive and departmental staff.
- A number of strategic governance committees will drive reforms, provide oversight and decision-making, and be accountable and responsible for outcomes and actions.
- The new Children and Young People Reform Unit in the Department of Premier and Cabinet will lead and coordinate the whole-of-government monitoring and implementation.
- The Commission has made a range of recommendations for legislative reform to make children safer; and to improve processes for future commissions of inquiries by reviewing the Commissions of Inquiry Act.
- Responsibility for different pieces of legislation is spread across agencies.
- The Child and Youth Wellbeing Subcommittee of the Secretaries’ Board has been tasked with developing a whole-of-government legislative reform agenda to enable agencies to work together to streamline reform processes.
- This will enable our agencies to work together, and with their stakeholders and children and young people, to coordinate legislative development and policy work to ensure it has the most impact.
- The weighty legislative agenda will require the support of all of us within this Parliament to ensure we are working together to deliver the changes the Commission has recommended.
- While I expect there to be due and appropriate scrutiny on the reforms that come forward, all Members of Parliament have an active role to play in delivering the changes the Commission has recommended quickly and efficiently.
- And it will also be important that we, as a Parliament, work together—across party lines—to make sure the legislative changes endure over time.
- An independent Child Sexual Abuse Implementation Monitor will be appointed to hold our Government to account.
- The Independent Monitor will report on the Government’s progress in implementing the Commission’s recommendations, as well as the recommendations of the national Royal Commission and the Independent Education Inquiry.
- The Monitor will strengthen our measures to safeguard children in our care by providing independent oversight and evaluation of the effectiveness of measures taken in response to this Report and enabling the assessment of change over time.
- The Monitor will ensure our commitment to adopting the Commission’s recommendations is actively assessed and evaluated.
- It is our Government’s intention that the legislation to implement the Independent Monitor will be introduced in the first week of the 2024 Parliamentary Year.
- The Report also recommends the establishment of a new Commission for Children and Young People with expanded functions to oversee and regulate child safety in Tasmania, monitored by a joint standing committee of the Tasmanian Parliament.
- We will also strengthen arrangements for other integrity agencies in relation to child safety, including by clarifying the role of the Integrity Commission and Ombudsman in relation to handling complaints about child sexual abuse and strengthening the role of the Registrar of Tasmania’s Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Scheme.
- Together, these changes are intended to improve safety for children and young people and build trust and confidence in the processes for handling complaints and concerns about the safety of children.
- The Report evidenced several case studies that identified systemic problems at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
- These case studies informed many of the Commission’s recommendations to shift Tasmania’s youth justice system to a therapeutic model that offers hope and healing to children and young people.
- We acknowledge the Commission’s call to close the Ashley Youth Detention Centre as soon as possible.
- We all want the same thing. If there was any capacity to close it now, we would. I would not hesitate.
- There is no greater priority than child safety, but these young people need to have somewhere that keeps both them and the community safe and where they can access learning and therapeutic supports.
- If there were immediate alternatives to Ashley available today, we would be taking them.
- In the absence of an immediate alternative, it is our commitment that we will do all we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children and young people in the Centre, whilst we simultaneously plan for the transition out of Ashley.
- In line with recommendations the Commission has made to improve safety for children and young people at the Centre:
- Electronic access controls for residents will be in operation by October. This meets the need to balance residents’ safety, security, privacy, and dignity, along with achieving concurrent protections for staff;
- Work is underway to install additional CCTV cameras to cover blackspots; and
- A body-worn camera trial will commence in November.
- We will use the Commission’s recommendations to inform our work as we continue to progress our plans to close the Centre and transition to new, contemporary therapeutic facilities and model of care for young people who commit the most serious of crimes.
- After a statewide assessment of possible sites for the new facility, today I announce that our Government has identified Pontville, in the state’s south, as the preferred site for the new youth detention centre.
- The new facility will deliver a therapeutic and trauma-informed service model that focuses on improving outcomes for young people in terms of their safety, wellbeing and learning.
- We are also progressing work on the supported residential centres and the assisted bail facilities, our Youth Justice Blueprint and therapeutic model of care, which will be informed by the Commissions’ final report.
- Now that a preferred site has been identified, we will undertake site-based assessments, including geotechnical surveys, planning and design processes, which will also inform costings and timeframes for the new facility.
- Our Government will provide an additional $5 million in 2023‑24 for the Ashley Youth Detention Centre to ensure that safety and wellbeing of the children in the centre continues to be prioritised.
- This is in addition to the $50 million already allocated to progress the delivery of new youth justice facilities, and $11.2 million that has been provided through the Government’s Commission of Inquiry fund to improve youth justice outcomes.
- The Commission has recommended a range of actions and improvements that can be made across the Tasmanian Out of Home Care system to ensure that children and young people are known, safe and well, and that we have the right supports in place for carers.
- Immediate actions include the introduction of a new care team and care planning approach to ensure children and young people are supported with a contemporary model of practice.
- A review of the financial model of support for family-based carers is currently underway and aims to ensure carers are provided with the resources they need to keep children in their care safe.
- Work is also being done to expand the range of care types and number of available foster carers, as well as increasing the supply of available frontline workforce within Children and Families.
- Defined standards of practice that are clear, concise, fit-for-purpose and aligned with contemporary best-practice are also being developed.
- The Commission has recommended that all Out of Home Care be outsourced to the non-government sector, allowing the Department for Education, Children and Young People to focus on monitoring and leading the development of a whole-of-sector strategic plan and policy framework.
- To achieve this, we will build on the long-term partnerships we have with our highly valued Out of Home Care providers and carers, to ensure we keep the safety, stability and wellbeing of children and young people at the forefront of all decisions we make.
- New care arrangements will be carefully designed, taking into account all other relevant recommendations made by the Commission, including that all care should be trauma-informed, and that the Aboriginal community must be engaged in co‑designing and delivering arrangements to ensure the cultural needs of their children are met.
- The transition from current to new arrangements will be staged and implemented in ways that maximise continuity and stability for children and young people in care, and ensures they are involved in decision-making that affects their lives.
- Carers are integral to the system, and we will not make changes to that system without their involvement and input, at every stage.
- There are other actions our Government will take immediately in response to this Report.
- Today I announce that we will provide $7.8 million to address immediate pressures on our Tasmanian Government services and contracted services that will be most impacted as they work to provide support to our community over coming months.
- This includes additional funding for the Advice and Referral Line, our statewide mental health services, our Child and Mental Health Service, and community sector organisations’ services that support people who have experienced abuse and trauma.
- The funding will be used to increase the capacity of services to respond to increased demand and to ensure Tasmanians have access to the support and information they need.
- We will immediately begin work to enhance our State Service culture and leadership by funding a whole-of-government improvement program. We will provide $4.5 million to ensure we have the right frameworks to ensure our State Service culture encourages feedback, reporting, action and review to enable our State Service to respond to child sexual abuse.
- This will help us build and develop the workforce we need now and into the future.
- One of the Commission’s core recommendations is the creation of a whole-of-government strategy for preventing, identifying and responding to child sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse in institutions and harmful sexual behaviours.
- We will move immediately to implement the Commission’s recommendation to develop a Child Sexual Abuse Strategy and action plan to bring together reforms to our services, initiatives, policies and procedures into a coordinated reform agenda. Our Government will provide funding of $2.5 million to implement this recommendation.
- Our Government has previously funded the establishment of two Arch Centres – one in the south and one in the north – as a two-year pilot.
- Today I am announcing $5 million to establish a third Arch centre on the North-west Coast.
- These centres provide trauma-informed support services and police responses for child abuse and sexual assault victims. This multi-service response to people who have experienced abuse and trauma ensures they are able to access all services in one centre and are not required to ‘re-tell’ their story. The centres also provide for an environment for greater information‑sharing across government and non-government agencies.
- We will invest a total of $5 million to implement new human resource administration management systems across our State Service agencies. This investment will bring on additional modules in the Health system and will expand the system across a whole-of-government basis. This system will improve the management of information about current or ex-employees who may pose a risk to children and young people. This will lead to a common foundation for all agencies that will help address concerns about employee conduct slipping through the cracks.
- The Department of Justice will receive $1 million to commence work on the implementation of the Commission of Inquiry legislative agenda.
- The Department of Health will receive $891,000 to establish a Child Safety and Wellbeing Panel and Service to oversee, monitor and investigate child safeguarding concerns; and $450,000 for engagement activities to enable Tasmanian children and young people to provide input into policies, delivery of services and decision-making.
- This is in addition to the initial $30 million in funding that has already been budgeted this financial year to priority reforms to keep children safer; and the 15 interim actions our agencies have completed in response to issues raised during the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry. This will bring total funding allocated in 2023-24 for the Commission of Inquiry response to around $53 million.
- While there is much work still to do, the reforms we have made are already making Tasmania a safer place for our children and young people.
- Aboriginal children are overrepresented in our youth detention and Out of Home Care systems. Strategies underpinned by Aboriginal self-determination are urgently needed to divert Aboriginal children and young people from the youth justice system and to reduce their over-representation in youth detention.
- We will work with Aboriginal communities not just in words but in actions. Our commitment is to make sure that Aboriginal-controlled organisations lead the way in this work.
- Finally, I want to acknowledge that the release of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry may evoke strong emotions for many people in our community.
- You are not alone.
- We recognise the critical importance of ensuring that people who have experienced abuse, State Service employees and members of the Tasmanian community are supported, safe and able to report concerns following the release of the Final Report.
- The Government has ensured a range of support services are available to the Tasmanian community, and any individual impacted can access trauma-informed and meaningful support.
- Resources were provided to local support services over the course of the Commission of Inquiry and an additional $1.5 million in funding has since been allocated to ensure support can continue for the tabling and public release of the Report and beyond.
- We have also continued support for anyone that experienced abuse in institutional settings and witnesses of the Commission of Inquiry by contracting the Commission of Inquiry’s Engagement Consultants to continue in their roles until the end of the year.
- We have been working with Agencies and Public Sector Unions to ensure Tasmanian State Service employees have consistent, appropriate and timely supports in place.
- Agencies have established a range of supports and referral pathways for different cohorts of impacted employees.
- This includes Employee Assistance Programs, access to independent psychological support, individual case management, individual safety planning, group sessions for Managers, focused debriefings as required, and referral to community organisations or specialist organisations, such as Lifeline, Sexual Assault Support Service and Laurel House.
- Every Tasmanian child is entitled to the best start in life.
- Every Tasmanian child has an inherent right to feel safe, be well and to engage in learning.
- We must be bold in envisaging a brighter future, and steadfast in our commitment to do the hard work to make that future possible.
- Too often in Tasmania’s history, our small size and our geographic isolation have been seen as barriers to the attainment of our deepest aspirations.
- Indeed, at times, the Report found that these factors have contributed to boundaries and divisions that have prevented change.
- But the Report also found that there is potential to harness these factors—the strong bonds across our communities; our propensity towards looking after each other; our ingenuity, creativity and our genuine care for one another—to build a better future.
- I want all Tasmanians to know this Government—and this Parliament—is listening and acting.
- We will leave no stone unturned to ensure our children and young people are safe and protected now and into the future.
- Our children are not just our most precious assets; they are the future of Tasmania.
- Our promise is that as a Parliament, a community, and a public service, we ensure every child and young person is known, heard and included; safe in all environments; well and thriving; and learning more every day.
- Together, let us make that promise and commence our journey to fulfilling it.
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