Victorian Education Official Sonia Sharp Sidelined over UK Sex Abuse Cases

By Kathryn Powley
Herald Sun
December 20, 2014

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victorian-education-official-sonia-sharp-sidelined-over-uk-sex-abuse-cases/story-fni0fit3-1227162902857

Dr Sonia Sharp.

AN education official who worked at a UK council slammed for not protecting children from a plague of sexual exploitation has been sidelined from her Victorian job.

Dr Sonia Sharp has been serving as Victoria’s deputy secretary of early childhood and school education but has been moved to the Department of Health and Human Services while her recruitment is reviewed.

Education Minister James Merlino has previously said Dr Sharp should never have been hired - but now he is in government, he has stopped short of firing her.

From 2005-08 Dr Sharp was director of children’s services at Rotherham Borough Council, where an estimated 1400 children - some as young as 11 - were sexually exploited between 1997 and 2013.

In August, a highly critical independent inquiry condemned systemic failings and noted that Dr Sharp led a “chaotic team” that failed to address the problem, despite ample evidence of its seriousness.

While the Coalition Government stood by Dr Sharp, Mr Merlino asked in Parliament how her role in a “systematic cover-up” did not disqualify her from a $300,000 a year job.

At the time, he told the Herald Sun: “She should never have been hired and there will be no place for her under a Labor government.”

On Friday he released a statement saying in light of the Rotherham inquiry he had asked the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner to review her recruitment.

The Commissioner would report by February 27.

“Pending the outcome of the review, Dr Sharp will move to the Department of Health and Human Services to develop policy advice on the strengthening of collaborative practices between the health and education systems,” he said.

Dr Sharp was headhunted for her Victoria role, which she took on in 2012.

In August she issued a statement saying she wished she could have done more to prevent the Rotherham children and young people suffering abuse.

She said she was briefed on the problem when she took on the job and had feared it was the “tip of an iceberg”.

Tackling sexual exploitation had been a key priority and she cited many ways the council had tried to combat exploitation including training, awareness-raising and appointing a specialist manager in the field.

“I regret every case of exploitation of vulnerable girls that was not prevented, but feel strongly that our collective efforts led to gradual but essential improvements in the situation for many young people,” she said.

Contact: kathryn.powley@news.com.au