The Royal Commission has published 33 submissions from schools, government and non-government organisations in response to its issues paper on addressing the risk of child sexual abuse in schools.
Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the large number of responses reflected the importance of this issue, with around 30 percent of all people who have spoken to the Royal Commission having been sexually abused as children in a school.
Mr Reed said the Royal Commission’s terms of reference require it to look into what governments should do to address or alleviate the impact of past and future child sexual abuse in institutional contexts.
The issues paper, released in July, sought community input on protecting children in Australian schools, including effectiveness of teacher training, efficacy of policies and how staff and parents are informed about policies, governance, and the need for regulatory frameworks to better protect children and young people.
“Submissions to the issues paper will be considered alongside the relevant case studies, the personal experiences shared by survivors of abuse in private sessions, and our broader policy work on schools,” Mr Reed said.
