We are deeply sorry for the past abuse of children and young people in our care, and we sincerely apologise to those affected by child sexual abuse.
We recognise and regret our past failings. They have left a lasting and negative impact on the lives of those affected by child sexual abuse — and for this we are truly sorry.
Key information
- We have accepted all recommendations from the inquiries into institutional child sexual abuse.
- The Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, final report was released on 26 September 2023.
- The Tasmanian Government has released the Keeping Children Safe and Rebuilding Trust – Government Response to the Inquiry on 1 December 2023.
- The Government the Change for Children: Tasmania’s 10-year Strategy for upholding the rights of children by preventing, identifying and responding to child sexual abuse. Public consultation on the strategy will be open until 30 September 2024.
It is vital we learn from our past failures and put every possible safeguard in place to ensure this can never happen again. All children have a fundamental right to be safe and it is our responsibility to ensure they are.
We are focussed on making a real difference, recognised there will be challenges, we are committed to working with children and young people to get this right and ensure we never make the mistakes of the past again.
We hope our commitment to putting children at the centre of everything we do will increase their safety and the community’s trust in us.
We are committed to making the children and young people we care for safe by making our systems and guidance stronger. We are embedding a culture where child safety is everybody’s responsibility.
All children and young people have the right to an education, to be heard, and to be kept safe from harm. In improving the way we keep children safe, their views and voices will be front and centre.
This is our greatest commitment and our highest priority.
Some of the information on this page may be confronting. There is help available if any of this content raises issues for you or someone around you.
Where to seek support
A range of free and confidential external support organisations are available. Learn more via Need help now? – Department for Education, Children and Young People
If you work for DECYP, additional free and confidential individual support options are available through Wellbeing Connect (internal site).
Tasmanian Government Commission of Inquiry (Final report 2023)
The final report from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings was released publicly on Tuesday, 26 September 2023.
On the 1 December 2023 the Government released the Keeping Children Safe and Rebuilding Trust – Government Response. This sets out the Government’s position in regard to the recommendations contained in the final report and proposed next steps to implement them.
On 27 June 2024 the Government launched public consultation for the Change for Children: Tasmania’s 10-year Strategy for upholding the rights of children by preventing, identifying and responding to child sexual abuse.
To find the latest information relating to the Inquiry please visit Keeping Children Safe | DPAC.
Independent Inquiry into the Department of Education’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2021)
We are responding to the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into the Tasmanian Department of Education’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to ensure we correct the wrongs of the past and put in place measures to safeguard and protect the children in our care.
The Inquiry released its recommendations on 7 June 2021. We have accepted all 20 recommendations in full and are working to implement them all.
We welcome the findings of the Inquiry, which provide us with practical steps to continue to improve.
This work will complement, not substitute, our ongoing implementation of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
More information about this Inquiry can be found in the:
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2018)
We are fully committed to making children and young people in our care safe. We are deeply sorry for the past abuse of children in our care, and apologise to the victim-survivors. We commit to making our schools safe and take the safety of children and young people seriously.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (RCIRCSA) released its final report in December 2017 and the Tasmanian response was tabled in Parliament in June 2018.
We have accepted all 23 education-related recommendations and are working to address them all to ensure we are an exemplary child safe organisation.
The recommendations provide us with a nationally consistent approach to improving our practices and compliments the work of the Office of Safeguarding Children and Young People to safeguard the rights of all children and young people to have an education, to be heard, and to be kept safe from harm.
For more information on RCIRCSA, read the Progress Report on the RCIRCSA Recommendations Implementation (PDF, 231KB).