State and Private School Claims
We will strive to help any victim of sexual abuse at any state or private school throughout Australia. Find out where you stand by talking to one of our experienced lawyers.
State and Private School Sexual Abuse Claims
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2019 there were 10,584 registered schools operating in Australia of which 7,092 were government schools. Government schools account for 65.4% of all students in Australia. Furthermore, according to the ABS, there were just under 282,000 teachers in Australian primary and secondary schools.
Child sexual abuse doesn’t just occur in religious schools. In 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse concluded in Volume 13 of its Final Report, that one-quarter (24.9 per cent) of victims of historical child sexual abuse covered by the Royal Commission were abused in government schools, while another 4.1 per cent of victims were abused in a secular non-government school. Artemis Legal has represented and is still representing victims who were sexually and physically abused in state schools run by the various Departments of Education in different States.
As in other institutional contexts, the Royal Commission was informed that perpetrators in school settings used a wide range of tactics and strategies, including grooming, to facilitate the sexual abuse of a child. Perpetrators can groom the child, and this includes not just teachers but also parents or carers and other staff members in schools. Victims were also shown to be sexually abused in a range of different school locations, such as on school grounds, at school activities and in other related settings such as the home of a teacher.
The long-term consequences of the sexual abuse can be both psychological and economic. Survivors of child sexual abuse generally report poorer academic achievement. Consequently, this usually impacts their future careers and working life to the extent that many victims struggle financially.
The following are some private schools reported to have a history of child sexual abuse:
We Lead the Way in Historical Child Sexual Abuse
Moody Law has represented and is still representing victims of child sexual abuse at State and private schools. This includes some of the perpetrators listed below who have been accused - and in some instances convicted - for offences dealing with historical child sexual abuse. Please note this is not a complete list.
John Body (gardener)
Stephen Grant Randell (ex-cricket umpire and teacher)
James Richard Gunn (lay teacher)
Kevin Lynch (counsellor and lay teacher)
Stephen Farrell (St Alipius Parish School, East Ballarat)
Gerard Vincent Byrnes (child protection officer and lay teacher)
Moody Law
We have represented for over 2,500 survivors of sexual abuse over the past 15 years.
We invite former victims of child sexual abuse at any State or private school to contact us to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.
Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form above.
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