A MEMBER of the Toomelah Aboriginal community near Boggabilla said yesterday the community had been trying for years to gain media coverage and help to tackle child sexual abuse issues.
The woman, who did not want to be named publicly, said the issues came to a head about three years ago when a man was convicted of offences and received a penalty many felt was too light.
She said she called mainstream Sydney media asking for it to be reported but it was ignored. She said the community often felt as though it was being victimised because there were issues of sexual abuse occurring, when it should be congratulated for coming forward and asking for help.
The Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services’ Justice James Wood and his staff revisited the community on Wednesday. They held a public forum to hear residents’ views about the work being done to help families and children.
A meeting was also held in Boggabilla with government and non-government agencies on Tuesday. About 50 people attended the public inquiry.
The Leader contacted the Toomelah Aboriginal Land Council, the Toomelah Public School and Special Commission of Inquiry staff yesterday for comment on the issues discussed. Nobody was willing to comment.
Promises by Commission staff that transcripts would be posted on the Internet had not been followed through by late yesterday.
Other media yesterday claimed the inquiry had been told older students were sexually abusing younger students at the school. This drew a strong reaction from education authorities.
Regional director with the Department of Education, Des Gorman, acknowledged there had been one incident at the school but that it was isolated, had been quickly dealt with and had been referred to the Department of Community Services (DoCS).
“All teachers are well trained to identify and support students displaying behaviour which might be related to a problem or a disclosure and notify DoCS and police immediately,” he said.
Mr Gorman said the Toomelah students also had weekly lessons on personal safety.
The Toomelah Aboriginal Land Council acting chief executive officer Brooke Reynolds yesterday denied media reports the community had been without water for four days.
“The bore pump broke down on Monday which was a public holiday so we couldn’t get it fixed,” she said.
“We had storage tanks of water and there are 10 new homes with rainwater tanks so they had water. On Tuesday water tankers trucked in water and (on) Wednesday afternoon supply was restored.”
Ms Reynolds said water had been an issue for about 20 years but that Hunter New England Health was testing the water fortnightly.
The inquiry is expected to report back to the NSW Government on September 30.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff