Two senior public servants have lost their Education Department jobs in the wake of the Debelle Royal Commission into the department’s response to a child sex abuse case.
Deputy chief executive Gino DeGennaro tendered his resignation on Monday.
Non-Government Schools Office chief executive Jan Andrews leaves tomorrow after her contract was not renewed.
The two executives were among those named in the Debelle inquiry.
Education Department chief executive Tony Harrison said today his predecessor Keith Bartley had sent letters to 11 employees querying their performance after the Debelle report was handed down in July this year.
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Bartley had admitted at the time that there had been a “sobering chronicle of failures at every level within the department”.
Of the remaining nine employees, four have been counselled, one is soon to be counselled and investigations are continuing in the remaining matters.
Speaking to journalists, Harrison made it clear that the departures of DeGennaro and Andrews were a direct result of the Debelle inquiry findings.
“All I’m prepared to say in relation to those two senior people is that through my assessment, my discussions with those individuals, what resulted was Mr de Gennaro resigning as of Monday and as I’ve already said … that Ms Andrew’s contract which is up for consideration will not be renewed,” Harrison said.
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“… I don’t believe I was in a position to have those two members a part of my senior executive group moving into the future based on my assessment of their individual involvement with the Debelle matter, but also more broadly in relation to them performing the roles as senior people in the organisation.”
He said the staff who had been counselled had performed unsatisfactorily.
The Debelle inquiry into the aftermath of a sexual abuse case in South Australia’s schools concluded the Department failed in its duty to parents and to the Education Minister.
The inquiry, headed by Former Supreme Court Justice Bruce Debelle, looked into a 2010 rape of a student at a western suburbs school by an after-school-hours-care worker.
Other parents at the school were not informed of the case until 2012.
The report says the Education Minister at the time, now-Premier Jay Weatherill, wasn’t informed of the case.
The report details numerous failings on the part of the Education Department, including failing to inform parents that the accused man had been committed for trial, providing misleading information, and a failure to seek legal advice on the case.
In the wake of the report being handed down Chief Executive Keith Bartley, who has since left the position citing family and health reasons, sent letters to 11 departmental staff outlining concerns about their performance.
Harrison, a former senior police officer, was appointed to replace Bartley about 10 weeks ago.
– additional reporting by David Washington
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