A Michael Cook article in MercatorNet is titled Australia’s Royal Commission should investigate government schools. The abstract reads:Reports in the media suggest that there may be a serious problem of sexual abuse, past and present
There is an explanatory note, which reads:After MercatorNet published a brief analysis of statistics about Catholic clerical sex abuse released recently by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, we received this article from a prominent Sydney barrister involved in clergy based cases. Because some of these cases are sub judice, he asked that we not publish his name.
The article then commences:The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has done valuable work in exposing historical sexual abuse of young people amongst Church-based and other private institutions.
There follow similar references headed:
The Letters Patent (the terms of reference) require the Royal Commission to investigate any institution where molestation of children has taken or may in future take place. They empower the Royal Commission to investigate “what institutions and governments should do to better protect children against child sexual abuse and related matters in institutional contexts in the future”.
To date, the completed Case Studies show considerable attention to faith-based institutions. No State or Territory schools appear to have been the subject of public hearings.
In my opinion the Commission has largely neglected the elephant in the room, namely Government schools. Whether this was deliberate or an oversight, it needs to be addressed. I ask the following questions:
• What analysis has the Royal Commission done of child sexual abuse in Government schools?
• Why have there been no public hearings into Government teachers, schools or practices of Departments of Education?
• Have the teachers’ unions in the States and Territories lobbied to block an investigation into Government schools?
• Is it being suggested that Government schools with more than 65 percent of all school students somehow are so well managed to be immune from the problems exposed in schools and institutions operated by Catholic, Anglican, Jewish and other religious denominations?
• Has the Commission published any justification for not examining the problems State schools and institutions have experienced with teachers and other employees?
From time to time, media outlets report cases where school teachers are charged and convicted of child sexual offences. Many of these are State schools. Unlike most of the historical abuses the Commission has covered in its Case Studies, where various institutions have demonstrably changed their attitudes and practices, resulting in far fewer abuses in modern times, most of the cases set out below involving State School teachers involve instances of recent child sexual abuse.
Here are a few recent articles which mention official government data reporting criminal offences, including child sexual assault, involving State School teachers. The figures are opaque, but from the summary statistics one can infer that the number of proven offenders may be substantial. The number of “alleged perpetrators”, to use a phrase employed by the Royal Commission, may be much larger.
Queensland, 2014. The Brisbane Times reported:
“There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Queensland teachers being charged with serious criminal offences, including child sex crimes, new figures show. The Queensland College of Teachers 2013 annual report, which was tabled in State Parliament last week, revealed the Queensland Police Service, through its commissioner, had notified it of 74 teachers charged with offences.
“It was an increase of 29.8 per cent from 2012, in which 57 teachers were reported and 12 suspended, and 64.4 per cent from 2011 (45 teachers reported. seven suspended). Of the 74 notifications in 2013, 15 teachers lost their QCT registration after they were charged with serious offences. Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said the number would reflect poorly on the profession. ‘If the number was just one, then it would still be a concern,’ he said.”
New South Wales, 2013. The Daily Telegraph reported:
“Sexual misconduct or crimes are the reasons for almost half of all sackings of NSW public school teachers. In the same week Education Minister Adrian Piccoli announced a new ‘three strikes and you're out’ policy for underperforming teachers, it can be revealed 82 teachers have been convicted of serious criminal offences in the past five years - including 20 last year.
“That is out of a total of 171 teachers sacked for either ‘proven allegations of misconduct’ or poor performers who failed "improvement programs". The majority found guilty of criminal offences have been convicted over pedophilia. Sixty-two teachers were involved in sexual misconduct or sexual offences in the five-year period, including 48 in sexual misconduct involving students.
“The shocking figures involving public school and TAFE teachers from 2008 to 2012 have been released by the NSW Department of Education and Communities on its website. They show 12 teachers were sacked over child pornography.”
Victoria, 2016. The Age reported:
February 12, 2016. The Newcastle Herald reported:
June 10, 2016. The Sydney Morning Herald reported:
August 31, 2016. The Daily Telegraph reported:
August 19, 2016. Sky News reported:
September 9, 2016. The Daily Telegraph reported:
January 13, 2017. 9News reported:
The article then concludes:With this litany of offences, I do not mean to suggest that faith-based institutions are better or worse than the schools of Australian states and territories. What I do respectfully suggest is that the Royal Commission should turn its attention to offences in government schools, both historic and contemporary. It is certainly within its remit and the lessons learned will help to ensure that the 65 percent of Australian children who attend government schools will be safe. At the moment, to judge from the headlines, they are not.
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