Schools lack resources to investigate sex abuse: Royal Commission

By Rachel Browne
Sydney Morning Herald
July 12, 2016

http://www.smh.com.au/national/schools-lack-resources-to-investigate-sex-abuse-royal-commission-20160711-gq3n3y.html

The child sex abuse royal commission is hearing evidence about how disability groups respond to allegations of child sexual abuse. Photo by Dmitri Maruta

Mater Dei School chief executive and principal Tony Fitzgerald believes small schools need more support to investigate serious sexual abuse claims. Photo by Greg Totman

The principal of a private school where a number of children were allegedly sexually molested told a royal commission the organisation did not have the resources to adequately investigate serious abuse claims.

Tony Fitzgerald, the principal and chief executive of the Mater Dei School in Camden, told the public hearing serious allegations should be investigated by a publicly-funded independent agency.

Three students were allegedly sexually assaulted at the school for children with disability in the early 1990s, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard on Tuesday morning.

Mr Fitzgerald told the inquiry he had received two other allegations of staff misconduct since he became principal in 2010, one involving the suspected grooming of a student in a residential program and the other involving mismanagement of a student's medication.

The commission heard small schools were ill-equipped to investigate such complaints.

"I'm not convinced that schools have the human resources to adequately fulfil that task," he said.

"There ought to be access for small organisations like Mater Dei to go to an agency that is oversighted by the Ombudsman and say, from the time the allegation is brought forward, 'This is the allegation, you now have carriage of it'."

Mr Fitzgerald told the second day of the inquiry into disability organisations that such investigations can cost more than $20,000.

"For small organisations like Mater Dei, we don't have those kinds of resources," he said.

The inquiry heard the allegation of suspected grooming was investigated by the school in concert with the NSW Ombudsman but police were not informed as Mr Fitzgerald believed it did not meet the threshold of reporting to police.

The allegation of mismanagement of a student's medication was investigated by the Catholic Education Office in Wollongong.

Mr Fitzgerald told the commission that the NSW Ombudsman was satisfied with the way the investigations were handled.

The two-week inquiry is examining how disability groups respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and what safeguards will exist under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The hearing, before Justice Jennifer Coate​ continues.