Child sex abuse victims name 17 institutions for royal commission submission

By Fiona Henderson
Courier
May 23, 2014

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/2303928/child-sex-abuse-victims-name-17-institutions-for-royal-commission-submission/?cs=62

Peter Blenkiron.

SEVENTEEN institutions have been named on Ballarat’s child sexual abuse survivors’ group submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

Nine of the institutions are local, with another eight from around Victoria, where abuse allegedly took place.

Survivor Peter Blenkiron said many individuals who had joined the submission were also taking major steps forward by changing from anonymous to named victims.

“There is definitely a shift, which goes along with the process of healing,” Mr Blenkiron said.

However, Mr Blenkiron and Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault senior counsellor Andrea Lockhart have urged any other victims to come forward.

“We will be giving them support through the process,” Ms Lockhart said.

“This is a vehicle to be part of it (the Royal Commission), if you are finding it difficult to do it yourself.” 

The group submission will be presented to one of the commissioners in a private hearing, which Mr Blenkiron said would “put faces to names”.

“We just want to let people know they can come forward to CASA and it will be an easy, supportive, non-intrusive approach,” he said.

“They can still be part of the voice. It’s about empowerment and a way of being heard.”

The Ballarat institutions named include St Alipius Christian Brothers School, St Patrick’s Christian Brothers, Macarthur Street, Dean and Queen Street primary schools, St Patrick’s Secondary College, St Paul’s Technical College, St Joseph Boys’ Home and St Alipius Junior School, which was similar to a kindergarten.

Those named outside Ballarat include Geelong Grammar and St Augustine’s Orphanage in Geelong, St Joseph’s Technical College in Abbotsford, Christian Brothers College in Warrnambool, St Thomas Moore College in Forrest Hill, De La Salle College in Malvern, St Joseph’s Boys’  Home in Surrey Hills and Warragul Technical College.

If you would like more information, contact Ms Lockhart at CASA on 5320 3933.