AUSTRALIA
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The Royal Commission will make a lot of findings on how organisations can improve their processes in tackling abusers within their ranks. The problem may well be that there will be an emphasis on people who are professionals or otherwise have no link to victims’ concerns.
The general approach from government to deal with problems has been to set up an “Ombudsman”. This is fine in principle, if the right person is appointed. Too often, however, this has not been the case. Eventually, the Ombudsman becomes merely an extension of the government which appointed him or her.
Sometimes, the appointment becomes simply a cushy job for some politically-connected hack. At other times, the position itself is not given any teeth. The Ombudsman makes a lot of good-sounding noises, but little change occurs. This may appear to be a bit of a cynical view, but a quick review of the many instances where an Ombudsman has been installed tends to reinforce this view.
Government will always tend to support a professional in such positions, because they can be counted upon to be “responsible”, or, to put it another way, not to be too critical of their employer, the government.
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