Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge ...

By Tanya Chilcott
Australian
March 05, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/brisbane-archbishop-mark-coleridge-and-toowoomba-bishop-robert-mcguckin-tell-parents-kids-are-safe-from-sex-abuse-at-school/story-e6frg6n6-1226845317494

In his letter to parents, Brisbane Archbishop Coleridge said it was a compulsory requirement that all new staff take a course in student protection, and an annual refresher.

CATHOLIC education officials admit their schooling system has been undermined in Queensland because of the way sexual abuse allegations were dealt with.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and Toowoomba Bishop Robert McGuckin have written to every school parent in their dioceses in an attempt to reassure them their children are protected at school.

It comes two weeks after the royal commission into child abuse heard shocking evidence of the abuse of 13 girls at a Toowoomba Catholic school as ­recently as the last decade.

The man who committed the crimes is now behind bars, but the commission heard allegations the school did not alert police to the abuse when it was first reported.

Brisbane Catholic Education Office communications manager John Phelan said it was “absolutely natural” for parents who had seen and heard the hearings to say “I have got doubts about how well the Catholic Church will protect my child”.

“The entire evidence at the royal commission has undermined the reputation of Catholic education, of course,” he said.

In a letter sent home to parents, Archbishop Coleridge said it was a compulsory requirement that all new staff take a course in student protection, and an annual refresher.

He admitted the Toowoomba case showed even if policies and procedures exist “these are of no use unless all staff are aware of them, comply with them, and follow them”.

Mr Phelan said as of next year staff would be required to take the whole student protection course every two years and a refresher course in alternate years, with teachers set to have more training in this area than any other in their schools.

The Toowoomba Diocese sent a similar letter to school parents yesterday.

“The children’s suffering, inflicted by the heinous crimes committed against them, and the subsequent impact on their families, weighs heavily on our hearts and minds,” Bishop McGuckin and Toowoomba Catholic Education Office director John Borserio told parents in their letter.

“We offer our sincerest apologies for the failings of our church and education community in responding to the ­reports of abuse.”