The first public hearing to be held outside Sydney by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will commence in Brisbane on 17 February.
The purpose of the hearing will be to inquire into the response by the Catholic Education Office, of the Diocese of Toowoomba in Queensland, to allegations of child sexual abuse at a primary school. The public hearing – the sixth since the Royal Commission was established – is scheduled to run for two weeks.
The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:
The response by the Principal and other members of staff at a Primary School in Toowoomba, Queensland, to allegations of child sexual abuse made against a teacher at the primary school in September 2007.
The response by officers of the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Toowoomba, to information supplied by the primary school Principal regarding the allegations of child sexual abuse received in September 2007.
The adequacy and implementation of systems, policies and procedures of the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Toowoomba, and a primary school for the prevention, detection, investigation and reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse since 2007.
Any other related matters.
The venue for the hearing will be Court 17, Level 4, Brisbane Magistrates Court, 363 George Street, Brisbane.
Ms Dines said, “The Royal Commission has a national focus and in the first half of 2014 there will also be public hearings in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT.”
