Still Much Work to be Done to Address Historical Institutional Abuse

A PDF version of this media release can be found online here

This has been an exceptionally difficult week for Survivors of Institutional abuse and their supporters.

While the journey to justice is often an arduous one, reports this week have demonstrated how much trauma and historic offending is still yet to be brought to the public’s attention.

What has been reported this last week alone demonstrated how wide-spread and insidious the scourge of Institutional Abuse can be.

Whether it be the harrowing reports regarding Western Australia Cricket Association, alleged abuse involving Swimming Australia coaches, or the significant failings that have occurred in Child Protection agencies across Australia, one thing is clear – Systemic failures have occurred and people’s lives have been destroyed.

I commend the courage of every single Survivor that has come forward to tell their stories – you are seen, heard, and believed.

It can be easy at times to think that following the Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse, that we are approaching or have achieved a state of “mission accomplished” in tackling Institutional Abuse –nothing could be further from the truth.

As a community, we must be ever vigilant in our pursuit of transparency and holding institutions to account.

We must not only hear the stories of Survivors, but also then act accordingly to address the systemic failures, that allowed the abuse to occur in the first place.

If we don’t, then our important efforts to keep our children safe, and to provide justice to those that have already suffered past abuse, may be in vain.