The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Implications for psychologists

In January 2013, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia appointed a six-member Royal Commission (‘the Commission’) to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse. The Commission will inquire into how institutions with a responsibility for children have managed and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse including where systems have failed to protect children. The outcomes of the Commission will include recommendations on how to improve laws, policies and practices to prevent and better respond to child sexual abuse in institutions.

The Commission is collecting information through public consultations (public hearings, private sessions with Commissioners, written submissions), research and invited submissions on key topics. This article aims to assist members to understand the scope of the Royal Commission and the various ways in which psychologists may find themselves involved.

Private hearings

Private hearings have been held in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Melbourne and will spread further around Australia. As of the end of August 2013, 285 private sessions had been completed and the Commission was using a triage process to manage the large number of individuals wishing to tell their story. Private sessions are generally held in neutral locations such as hotel rooms with counselling capacity on-site. Individuals engaging in private sessions receive counselling prior to telling their story and are followed up within one week, with the potential for referral to more long-term counselling. A list of available support services, by State, is also available on the Royal Commission website (www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/support/support-services/).

It is generally only the individual, his or her support person, a Commission officer, and the Commissioner present in the room during a session, with the Commissioner able to assist the story-telling by asking questions or by accepting a written account. Most people require 1 to 1.5 hours to tell their story. Individual stories will not be made public, but where permission is granted, vignettes based on lived experience may be told in public events. Community members also have the option of telling their story in writing and as of August 2013, over 300 submissions had been received.

Attendees at private sessions do not require legal representation. However, some community members telling their stories have not reported the event/s to the police. Under the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission, the Commissioners must report to the police if there remains potential for reoffending. The requirement of limited confidentiality is explained to individuals prior to the private session taking place.

The Commission is seeking to enable all people who wish to tell their story of sexual abuse to be able to do so, with the only exemptions being cases currently under investigation or in the courts. The Commission has indicated they are working towards ensuring people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities can tell their stories, although it is recognised this will be difficult. Other circumstances in which the Commission will try to provide additional support to enable people to tell their stories include individuals from different cultures and language backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people currently in prison. Currently, the overwhelming majority of people telling their stories have been men.

Public hearings

Public hearings commenced on 16th September 2013 and eventually will take place in most States. Where States currently have their own inquiries into child sexual abuse, the Commission will wait until these inquiries are completed and seek to learn from them, as the Commissions Terms of Reference order that it does not interfere with State-based inquiries. The public hearings of the Commission will focus on 25 key areas including various types of organisations and issues such as the transfer of children between centres. Some individual stories (with permission) will also be told in public hearings. Public hearings will be live streamed to the web though it will be possible for some witnesses to be de-identified. The Commission notes that some witnesses at the public hearings may require legal representation in order to protect their interests. Further information on the public hearings is available in the Public Hearing Fact Sheet on the Royal Commission website.

Research

The Commission has funding to undertake research in key areas. The sorts of issues to be investigated include prevention, reporting and responding to allegations of child sexual abuse including understanding the impediments to practice, and redress. One of the major areas of concern that has already emerged is jurisdictional differences between States in Working with Children Checks. The research will be undertaken by the Commission although contracted projects will be awarded, with all projects to be delivered by the end of 2015. Further details of the research projects currently underway can be found at www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/our-work/research/.

Invited submissions

The Royal Commission is also inviting community members and organisations to respond to Issues Papers on a range of topics including mandatory reporting, support needs for survivors and families, and offender programs. Consultations have already been completed on the Working with Children Check and the content and operation of Towards Healing. The issues Paper Preventable Sexual Abuse of Children in Out-of-Home-Care is currently available for comment until 8 November 2013.

How are psychologists likely to interface with the Royal Commission?

There are a number of formal routes through which psychologists may wish to provide psychological expertise to the Commission including research opportunities and responses to Issues Papers. Members are directed to the Royal Commission website to subscribe to Commission updates.

It is also likely that psychologists may have more indirect contact with the Commission as a result of clients who have told their story to the Commission or are considering doing so. Psychologists who have clients who may be considering telling their story can direct them to the various Fact Sheets such as Tell Your Story, How to Tell Your Story and Private Sessions that are available on the Commission website and provide descriptions of what to expect should an individual contact the Commission. There is also an extensive list of frequently asked questions available at www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/resources/frequently-asked-questions/ that may be of assistance to psychologists in supporting clients who are survivors, and their partners and families.

A Royal Commission has broad powers of investigation and can compel people to assist it with its investigations and inquiries through a summons to appear before it or through a summons to produce documentation. There are few grounds which allow refusal to respond to a Royal Commission. As such, some psychologists may be requested by the Commission to provide documents (such as client records) and are required by law to respond or face a fine or even imprisonment. Where information for the Commission is compiled by a third party (e.g., administrative staff), psychologists must ensure client confidentiality with regard to any documents until they are secured by the Royal Commission.

The Commission is sensitive to the potential impact on staff involved in the Commission and professionals supporting survivors and their families. To that end, the Commissioners have taken steps to ensure their own self-care during the course of the Commission. For example, there are limits to how many stories Commissioners can hear per day and for how many consecutive days they are allowed to receive survivor stories. The Commission has also provided a list of training providers and supports for professionals working in the area, which can be found at www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/support/support-services/.

The outcome of the Royal Commission

The Commission must provide an interim report on its investigations by 30 June 2014 and is due to conclude at the end of 2015. This timeline is challenging given the overwhelming number of people contacting the Commission to tell their story and the commitment of the Commissioners to hear these stories. In a public speech in Melbourne on 4th September 2013, the Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM, Chair of the Commission, drew attention to the investigations in Ireland that ran for nine years and is cognisant of the enormity of the task ahead of the Commission in Australia. Justice McClellan also indicated that the Commissioners had been shocked by the overwhelming impact of child sexual abuse on the lives of survivors and that the Commission was committed to ensuring the broader community is made aware of this and the need for institutional change to ensure the safety of children.

Members with queries about requests from the Royal Commission can seek information from the APS Professional Advisory Service on 1800 333 497 or 8662 3300 (if calling from Melbourne), or by email at [email protected].