‘Litany’ of failures to protect children from abuse
Ethan James |
Children and young people at Tasmania’s youth detention centre have for decades been systemically harmed and abused, with the state government failing to protect them.
The findings are among 75 detailed in the final 3500-page report of a commission of inquiry into the Tasmanian government’s responses to child sexual abuse allegations.
The inquiry called in 2020, investigated abuse allegations at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre, Launceston General Hospital and in public schools and out-of-home care.
It found a litany of department and government failings relating to the handling of abuse complaints at the centre and the hospital in particular.
The report concluded some children and young people detained at Ashley had “for decades” experienced systemic harm and abuse.
It also found the use of isolation of as a form behaviour management, punishment or cruelty was contrary to the Youth Justice Act and had been a “regular and persistent” practice at the centre since at least the early 2000s.
” … the conditions that enabled this practice still exist today,” the report released on Tuesday said.
The relevant state government department and sometimes the government itself had been on notice about potentially unlawful isolation practices at Ashley since at least 2013 and had not taken sufficient action, the report found.
Excessive use of force was a longstanding method of abusing children by some Ashley staff and the department and government had not always responded appropriately.
“The department’s responses to excessive use of force do not represent a child-centred approach in line with the United Nations convention on the rights of the child,” the report said.
The state government, which in 2021 pledged to shut the centre by the end of 2024, has promised it will be closed as soon as possible.
“Victim-survivors have been abused by the very people who were supposed to care for them,” Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff told parliament.
“We are deeply sorry to all those who have suffered abuse in Tasmanian institutions. We have failed you.”
The report also detailed a litany of failures around investigations into former Launceston General Hospital nurse James Geoffrey Griffin.
Griffin worked on the hospital’s pediatric ward for almost 20 years and took his own life in 2019 after being charged with multiple child sexual abuse offences.
The hospital failed to respond appropriately to a disclosure of abuse by Griffin in 2011 or 2012, leaving children exposed to potential risk for eight years, the report said.
Tasmania “too often” didn’t respond adequately to allegations and incidents of child sexual abuse in institutions between 2000 and 2020.
“While we saw pockets of good practice, this was often a result of the initiative and good judgment of individuals rather than something encouraged and enforced by a broader system,” it said.
The report includes 191 recommendations, which the government has previously pledged to adopt in full.
The inquiry referred more than 100 people to police and child protection authorities.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
AAP
