Education dept’s “culture of disconnectedness”
The head of South Australia’s Department for Education and Child Development has described the culture in his department as one of “disconnectedness” and poor communication.
Department chief executive Keith Bartley, who was appointed in 2011 by then Education Minister and now Premier Jay Weatherill, today described a department in which individual units failed to communicate, and staff up the line were poorly informed by their juniors.
The comments come in the wake of a scathing report by former Supreme Court Justice Bruce Debelle into the department’s handling of a sex abuse case at a western suburbs school.
The report, released yesterday, examined why parents of students at the school weren’t informed that an after-school-hours-care worker had been arrested, charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a child under his care. Only the parents of the victim were informed until the situation became public last year.
The report says Weatherill wasn’t informed of the case, despite an email being sent from the department to two of his staff, and details a long list of departmental failings.
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Bartley and Education Minister Jennifer Rankine today announced that former Victorian education department chief Peter Allen would conduct an independent review of the South Australian department.
Rankine said Allen would conduct a “thorough examination” of the department’s processes and practices.
“Mr Debelle’s report highlighted failings in the systems and practices of the department,” Rankine said. “I need to ensure we do everything possible to make sure this does not happen again.”
After making another apology to parents and the school’s governing council today, Bartley, who wasn’t with the department when the worker was arrested in 2010, described the department’s communication culture in scathing terms.
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“I think I’ve found a culture of disconnectedness,” he said.
“I’ve found a number of units within the department that were operating in isolation from each other. I’ve found poor communication between departments and, as Mr Debelle’s report has indicated, poor communication upwards within the department.”
Bartley also indicated that he had first become aware of the case of the school worker last year.
“I was first made aware of it in February of 2012. I wasn’t briefed on the matter as indeed the minister wasn’t – I wasn’t briefed on the matter on my arrival and it wasn’t drawn to my attention until February 2012.”
Weatherill said yesterday that Bartley was considering Debelle’s findings and would consider disciplinary action against department staff.
Bartley said today that he had every option at his disposal for dealing with staff.
Rankine said Allen’s review would consider the Debelle inquiry’s findings and recommend organisational changes to help prevent “systemic failings” in the future.
She said the review would be completed as quickly as possible.
“I expect Mr Allen will make recommendations to improve the accuracy, reliability, timeliness and consistency of advice to school communities and the Government,” she said.
