The Royal Commission held a public hearing in Darwin from Monday 22 September to Wednesday 1 October. Oral submissions were held on Monday 17 November 2014.

The public hearing inquired into the experiences of men and women who were sexually abused as children at the Retta Dixon Home.

The scope and purpose of the public hearing was to inquire into:

1. Hear the experience of men and women who were sexually abused as children at the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin, Northern Territory between 1946 – 1980.

2. Inquire into the response of the Australian Indigenous Ministries (formally the Aborigines Inland Mission) (AIM) and the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments to allegations of child sexual abuse against AIM workers who were employed at the Retta Dixon Home.

3. Inquire into the response of the Northern Territory’s Police Force and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1975 and 2002 to allegations raised by residents of the Retta Dixon Home against Donald Henderson.

4. Inquire into the current laws, policies and procedures governing children in out-of-home care in the Northern Territory today.

5. Inquire into the redress schemes available to persons who were victims of child sexual abuse while resident at the Retta Dixon Home.

6. Any other related matters.