Abuse reports buried -police not given files
19.12.2007
SENIOR Queensland Child Safety Department official claimed that reports of abuse of children at Aurukun were not passed on by departmental staff to police for at least six months.
The officer told a Crime and Misconduct Commission review team investigating the gang-rape of a 10-year-old girl in the Aboriginal community on Cape York in May last year that she discussed the serious issue with Child Safety team leader Maria Fletcher but received little more than foul-mouthed abuse in response.
Ms Fletcher and her friend and colleague, Child Safety area manager Stephanie Fielder, were suspended from duty when the review found they had breached departmental rules in ignoring the plight of the young girl and keeping her at Aurukun where she was frequently being raped.
The review team was also told that Ms Fletcher informed staff in Cairns that police ``made stuff up'', and in child abuse matters the families were to be believed over the police because ``they don't have a reason to lie to us''.
The Australian revealed last week that on October 24 last year six teenagers and three adults pleaded guilty to the rape of the 10-year-old girl and were given non-custodial sentences by District Court judge Sarah Bradley, causing a national outcry.
On August 22 last year, Anneke Van Woerkom, the Child Safety Department representative and co-ordinator of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) group, which also included representatives from police, Health and Education, told investigators no referrals of child abuse in the north had been passed from the Department of Child Safety to SCAN since February last year.
``When I started my job as SCAN team co-ordinator in February I noticed there were no referrals whatsoever from the department so I raised that with the manager and team leaders, and still none were forthcoming,'' Ms Van Woerkom said.
She said she approached Ms Fletcher about the lack of referrals to the SCAN team for further investigation and Ms Fletcher ``told me to get stuffed''.
Ms Van Woerkom outlined how she argued with Ms Fletcher over the need to refer to police a case where a mother tried to strangle her daughter, but she refused, saying there was not significant harm as an older sibling was present and stopped the assault, and the mother was drunk and did not know what she was doing.
Another DCS witness, Jane Sheehan, told the inquiry that Ms Fielder and Ms Fletcher overruled her on one occasion concerning the protection of three children in care on Aurukun. Ms Sheehan wanted them taken to Cairns but Ms Fielder ordered they be kept at Aurukun and looked after by a carer who had not been assessed as legally suitable.
She said Ms Fletcher's perception was that, in a domestic violence incident, ``we need to believe family over police because the family have no reason to lie to us and police can get the wrong end of the story''.
Aurukun police officer Senior Constable Michelle Rizal told the inquiry she heard from community members that the raped child and other young girls were selling themselves for cigarettes and smoking ``gunja''.
Constable Rizal said young children aged six or seven would be found running around the streets of Aurukun at 2am.
``Where are the adults? You tell these kids to go home and OK, they'll go home and what happens? Five minutes later they'll come out and do the same thing,'' Constable Rival said.
She said she telephoned the Department of Child Safety with her concerns about the 10-year-old girl, and told the officer that the girl should be back in care in Cairns because
