Abuse campaigner might enter politics
The Adelaide woman who challenged an education department instruction to remain silent about child sex abuse and sparked a royal commission is prepared to enter politics to ensure “long term change”.
And she has an “army across the schools of Adelaide” to assist her.
Danyse Soester, 45, the key advocate for parents at a western suburbs school and the catalyst for the Debelle Royal Commission into the handling of a child sexual assault case, told InDaily she “won’t stop until its finished”.
Soester said Premier Jay Weatherill’s refusal to agree to an independent Education Ombudsman shows the State Government might need further persuasion.
When the subject was raised 10 days ago in her kitchen, the day before the public release of the Debelle Report, the Premier, who was personally briefing Soester, was reluctant.
“Jay said he didn’t deem it necessary; I took that as a no,” Danyse said.
“I also take from those words that there is reluctance within Government to be accountable to an independent body.
“And it’s that lack of accountability that’s been at the centre of this case for two and a half years.
“I won’t rest until I know the job is done.
“I’m not sure I want to enter the political world, but if that’s what is needed then that’s what will be done.”
Over the last two and a half years Soester has been the conduit for parents concerned their children may have been exposed to personal dangers while Education department officials remained silent.
Having beaten the long path from silenced parent to main protagonist at a Royal Commission, she has gathered many supporters along the way, a point she has already made to the Premier.
‘I told him here in this kitchen that my anger has turned into determination and that I have an army across the schools of Adelaide who want this culture of silence fixed.”
Soester’s journey from volunteer school governing council secretary to an agent for cultural change in the administration of education in South Australia suggests her threat to enter politics should be heeded.
The journey has its roots in Soester’s family adherence to simple concepts of right and wrong.
It would define how she reacted to news she received as a parent and governing council member on December 9, 2010.
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A person employed in the school’s after-hours-care program had been arrested and charged with a serious sexual offence; but the principal said a court suppression order meant they could not discuss the matter anywhere.
“I would be standing in the school yard and listening to parents discussing rumours of a pedophile at the school and I felt so frustrated that I couldn’t give them detail to at least reassure them it was being handled appropriately.
“But then I started to become concerned that maybe it wasn’t being handled appropriately.
“The more I asked questions, the more I was kept at bay; even threatened with legal action.
“At some stage you decide what you will do; as a parent you have to protect your children and I wasn’t convinced they were protected.”
Danyse compared the stubbornness of education officials to her grandfather, who had been school principal at Marion High.
“He was a ‘polished shoes and stand tall’ style of principal.
“But he also insisted on children being taught right from wrong and how do you teach that if you are keeping secrets about pedophiles?
“I believed that there were likely to be more victims that we didn’t know about and that every parent had the right to know if their child was and had been safe.
Between December 2010 and October 2012 the Education Department resisted every attempt made by Soester and later others.
That battle of individual versus institution should have taken a heavy toll – but Soester says she relied on friends and family to stay on top of the pressure.
“I consulted with anyone that I knew who I thought could offer some advice, some support; some assistance.
“I spoke to lawyers, doctors, priests, mothers and fathers.
“They all backed me up.”
The turning point came when she met Liberal MP David Pisoni; although she’s not about to hand Pisoni a bouquet.
“Politicians have their agenda, I had my agenda, others had their own agenda.
“But on the day that I walked into parliament house and spoke to David, it all changed.”
Pisoni put her in contact with a parent whose child had been abused.
“This was someone who had the extra burden of having to care for her abused child as well as battle the institutions that would insist it be kept silent.
“Once we got together, there was no turning back.
“The media were made aware and it all turned from there.”
Then-Education Minister Grace Portolesi buckled to the pressure and commissioned an inquiry to be headed by retired judge Bruce Debelle.
After getting started Debelle considered he needed more powers to gather evidence; he asked for the powers of a Royal Commission.
At separate meetings with the Education Minister and the Attorney-General John Rau on November 8 and 9, Debelle’s request was refused.
On December 4 he put his request in writing.
Six days later, he was invested with the powers of a royal commission.
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Danyse Soester would find Debelle to be a man much like her grandfather.
“I said to him he would leave a legacy; he could ensure long term change that will protect children for this and the next generation.
“We had long meetings and went through it piece by piece; he wanted to hear everything I had to say and I had plenty to say.”
In his 280-page report Debelle made a point of describing the force of Soester’s views as enough to shift a department’s entrenched view.
“Ms Soester’s persistence ought to have caused the department at least to seek legal advice on the question whether a letter should be sent to all parents,” he stated.
Debelle came down on the side of the mother who had taken on the bureaucracy.
The Education Department had given incorrect legal advice to the governing council about the supposed suppression order; it had been stubborn in its refusal inform other parents; it had kept inaccurate or poor records and even lost track of the court proceedings resulting from the 2010 child sexual assault charges, the report found.
“The primary purpose of the Children’s Protection Act is to protect children from abuse or neglect.”
Soester said this week this is the central issue.
“On the bottom of all their emails and correspondence is this slogan that they are there to protect children; yet their actions served to do otherwise.
“They didn’t understand what was wrong and what was right.
“That’s the cultural problem within the system and unless there is fundamental change and clear accountability, then we have achieved nothing.”
Apologies and press conferences don’t cut the mustard with Soester.
“I have had them here in my kitchen.
“Jay’s been here; I have held the hand of Grace Portolesi and asked her what she would do if her child was abused; Jennifer Rankine wants to come and see me on Thursday.
“Yet I don’t see accountability. I don’t see someone who failed in their job, losing their job.
“Has anyone actually stood there and said ‘I was wrong and I will be accountable for that and pay the price’?
“Maybe the price will be that they lose their job at the next election.”
The Soesters used to live in Adelaide’s west, near the sea and were happy with life, their children’s education and their prospects.
They have since moved to the Adelaide Hills, taken their son and daughter from the primary school to a private school.
It’s been traumatic, but they remain glued to the six principles that have guided their family for generations.
You don’t lie, don’t cheat and don’t steal.
“You should know who’s got your back and whose back you’ll protect.
“And most of all you must know right from wrong.
“I have to warn my children about the dangers of crossing the road and why you don’t touch poison ivy.
“Now we’ve also had to tell them about pedophiles and why they had to be uprooted from their school, their home and their friends.
“Today, I am telling the State Government that there needs to be protection for parents – we need an independent education ombudsman.
“Until we achieve that, I am not going away.
“And until someone is held accountable, I will not stop seeking them to be so held.”
Those who were in the room at Mawson Lakes last Friday when Soester confronted Jay Weatherill and federal MP Mark Butler told InDaily the Premier and his colleague looked very uncomfortable.
They’ll be feeling that way for some time – possibly even during an election campaign.
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