Victorian premier apologises to victim-survivors of child sexual abuse in schools

Victim-survivors of child sexual abuse in state government schools have attended Parliament House to listen to the Victorian government apologise. Premier Ben Carroll delivered the formal apology to victim-survivors and their families this morning, recognising abuse prior to 2000.The apology was informed by victim-survivors' experiences shared through the Forum for Truth and Recognition, the Beaumaris Board of Inquiry, and the Systemic Review into historical child sexual abuse in Victorian public schools.The reports found that perpetrators exploited weak regulations in the education system. Since 2000, Victoria has implemented several reforms to prevent abuse of children in schools and to change the way those in authority respond to allegations, including Working with Children Checks, mandatory Child Safe Standards, the Reportable Conduct Scheme and strengthening teacher registration requirements.'A terrible reality' Mr Carroll described the "terrible reality" of systemic failures that allowed abuse to occur. "Children and young people who should have been safe in Victorian government schools were sexually abused by people entrusted with their care," Mr Carroll said."Students were not believed and their abusers were not held to account." "I want to say today's apology is not an ending. It is a start. It is a start for meaningful change, meaningful action and reform." Ben Carroll says the students should have been safe with people entrusted with their care. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said policymakers must push to bring transparency and accountability."An organisational culture of looking the other way, of avoiding the hard questions, of failing to be adequately self-reflective or self-critical must never be allowed to take place again," Ms Wilson said. 'Inherent failures' Lawyers Arnold Thomas & Becker are investigating abuse allegations on behalf of more than 730 former students from over 460 Australian schools.The list names 357 schools being investigated in Victoria. Kim Price, the head of Arnold Thomas & Becker's institutional abuse practice, said the firm continued to receive a significant number of enquiries every month, including allegations as recent as 2024. "The staggering number of people coming forward demonstrates the inherent failures of our education systems to implement effective policies and procedures to prevent, identify and respond to sexual and physical abuse within schools," he said."We have identified numerous schools where complaints of abuse had allegedly been made but were not properly addressed, and where alleged offenders remained in contact with students."In some matters, our investigations indicate that alleged offenders were transferred between schools, where further abuse was subsequently alleged."Kim Price says the growing number of survivors coming forward highlights failures to adequately protect children within Australia's education system. (Supplied: Arnold Thomas & Becker )Mr Price said the Victorian government's parliamentary apology to survivors was an "important step" but it did not address the lifelong impact of trauma."An apology alone is not enough," Mr Price said. "Survivors also need access to fair financial compensation, psychological treatment and ongoing medical support."