Human rights campaigner Tom Calma was ‘helpless’ ...

By Amos Aikman
Australian
September 23, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/human-rights-campaigner-tom-calma-was-helpless-when-told-of-sexual-abuse-allegations-inquiry/story-e6frg6nf-1227067834476

Dr Tom Calma is now Chancellor of the University of Canberra.

PROMINENT indigenous human rights campaigner Tom Calma was told of horrific allegations of sexual abuse at a Darwin missionary home that were never followed up, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, sitting in Darwin, was told the alleged abuse was reported to Dr Calma in the 1970s, while he was working for the Northern Territory government.

The alleged abuse occurred at Retta Dixon Home for children and girls, which operated inside Darwin’s Bagot Aboriginal reserve between 1946 and 1980.

The allegations were made by a witness referred to only as AKV, who said he had informed Dr Calma of the abuse at the hands of “house parent” Don Henderson when he was about 10 years old. He said Dr Calma was working for the Northern Territory government “welfare mob” at the time.

AKV initially did not want to name the man “because he’s in such high standing in the commonwealth government and connection with the United Nations, I don’t want to shame his family”, but under questioning named him as Dr Calma.

Dr Calma is currently Canberra University Chancellor and has served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and as Race Discrimination Commissioner.

“I remember telling him about Mr Henderson. I remember telling him about all the cruelties and the beatings et cetera, definitely,” AKV said.

Senior Council Sophie David, assisting the Royal commission, asked AKV whether he had described the “sexual touchings”.

“Yes,” AKV replied. “To me it was a kind of shameful thing to talk about, the connotations of being touched definitely refers to the groping, you know, all the rest of the business that went on.

“I definitely told him about that stuff.”

AKV said Dr Calma had “seemed almost helpless”.

“Almost like, ‘I’m taking notes and this is about as far as it’s going to go’,” he said.

AKV said he recalled Dr Calma visiting the Retta Dixon Home on several occasions, but had only spoken to him once.

“After speaking to him, did anything happen — did anyone talk to you about it,” Ms David asked?

“Nothing at all, nothing at all,” AKV replied.

The royal commission is holding a fortnight of public hearings in Darwin to hear evidence from former Retta Dixon Home residents. The missionary home operated between 1946 and 1980.

The Commission has been told children living there were routinely beaten, chained to their beds as punishment and in some cases regularly sexually abused.

House parent Don Henderson was unsuccessfully prosecuted twice; at one time Mr Henderson was charged with over 70 sexual offences.

The royal commission looks set to examine why those cases never made it to trial.