Education head in the dark – again
The chief executive of the state’s Department for Education and Child Development, Keith Bartley, moved today to distance himself from a child sex scandal in Britain.
Bartley said today that he had no knowledge of the British case and also had no knowledge of a controversial Adelaide case until after it went to court, adding he had been wrongly advised that the case’s details had been suppressed by the courts.
Bartley was Director for Children, Young People and Families at Oxfordshire Council in Britain from 2006 to 2007, having held key education roles in Oxfordshire since 2003.
A recent court case has detailed the activities of seven men alleged to have operated a pedophile ring that groomed young children.
The seven men were convicted of 43 offences including rape, trafficking and organising prostitution.
The case revealed how the men recruited victims between May 2004 and January last year, targeting young girls.
The convictions have sparked a review of the Oxfordshire County Council’s school and youth services.
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Bartley was recruited by Premier Jay Weatherill to South Australia in 2011.
“The first I heard of the case was early last month,” Bartley told ABC Radio’s breakfast program this morning.
“I had no prior knowledge of this matter.
“I established the Oxfordshire Safety and Children’s Board and at no time were these issues raised with the board.
“I haven’t been contacted in the course of the (police) investigation.”
It wasn’t to be the first time Bartley would find himself in the dark about serious allegations of child sex abuse.
He claimed today that as head of the South Australian education department he was misled by staff about charges laid against a worker at a western suburbs primary school in December 2010.
An inquiry by retired Judge Bruce Debelle into the department’s handling of the case was released Monday.
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“The case that Mr Debelle focussed on – that awful case of abuse – was first brought to my attention in February 2012,” Bartley said.
“Neither I nor the Minister were briefed on coming into our positions. I was told the matter was suppressed by the courts. That advice was incorrect.
“I trusted the advice I had been given.
“Every time someone in the chain questioned the advice, they got the same answer.”
Bartley wouldn’t be drawn on whether departmental staff faced the sack over their handing of the abuse case.
“I can’t answer that; there are industrial relations rules that provide for procedural fairness.”
Meanwhile, the SA branch president of the Australian Education Union, Correna Haythorpe, has raised concerns that the department’s mishandling of the Adelaide case will damage confidence in public education.
“There’s no doubt that when you have negative stories it has an impact on our system,” she said.
However, she said the public knew that the “vast majority” of people working in public schools were dedicated professionals.
“The problem here is that it was the system that broke down, in terms of allowing people to do their jobs properly.”
Haythorpe said she believed the department had made a “genuine attempt” to change its organisational culture and address emerging issues in public education over the past couple of years.
It was now important, though, for Bartley to respond quickly to Debelle’s recommendations.
“From our perspective it’s very clear there’s been a broad system failure with respect to the way the department managed this situation, then the subsequent lack of advice to parents,” she said.
“What everyone wants to know now is what’s the Chief Executive going to do about this? People need to know that.”
Additional reporting by David Washington
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