Royal Commission to Examine Child Abuse at Knox Grammar and Uniting Church

news.com.au
January 23, 2015

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/royal-commission-to-examine-child-abuse-at-knox-grammar-and-uniting-church/story-fnj3rq0y-1227194196086

The headmaster of the exclusive school has welcomed the inquiry. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

THE headmaster of an exclusive Sydney private school which will come under the gaze of the sex abuse royal commission has welcomed the opportunity to work with the national inquiry.

The royal commission announced on Thursday it will next month begin a hearing involving the Wahroonga-based Knox Grammar school and the Uniting Church in Australia between 1970 and 2012.

It relates to concerns raised about inappropriate conduct by a number of teachers towards students at Knox.

In 2010, former teacher Craig Treloar was jailed for two years for numerous sex offences against four boys, aged 11 to 13, who attended Knox in 1986 and 1987.

Headmaster John Weeks says the school regularly reviews child protection policies, student awareness programs and support structures to provide surety to parents and students about safety.

“These matters were well publicised in 2009 and the school has always accepted responsibility in this matter and sought to support firstly the police inquiries and, most importantly, any students who were identified as having been sexually abused,” Mr Weeks said in a letter to former students on Thursday.

“We look forward to working with the royal commission as a case study in February.”

Craig Treloar was charged with two counts of indecent assault and two counts of committing acts of indecency. Source: News Limited

The commission will investigate the systems, policies and procedures in place at Knox in relation to raising and responding to concerns about child sexual abuse since 1970.

The hearings begin in Sydney on February 23 and comes as the NSW government is considering lifting the time limit in which survivors of child sexual abuse can sue for damages.

Attorney-General Brad Hazzard said the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had uncovered widespread claims about abuse and the legal barriers survivors face in pursuing justice many years after the crime.

“It is well documented that many survivors of child sexual abuse do not disclose their experiences or act on them until decades after the abuse, well after the time period has ended,” Mr Hazzard said on Friday.