But questions remain over whether the state government has been transparent enough throughout the process so far. As of Friday, 14 public servants had been stood down as part of the Commission of Inquiry. But the only detail released was that four related to historical allegations, and 10 related to contemporary allegations. It was not revealed whether the individuals who were stood down had been personally accused of child sexual abuse.

While the priority during this process should always be the welfare of the alleged victims, with the goal of bringing about justice, there also needs to be a consideration for those who work within these departments and members of the general public.

How can the public have faith in each department if there is still widespread secrecy? Anyone accused of abuse should be stood down, and those who knew about the abuse, but failed to act on that knowledge should also be stood down.

But how can existing departmental staff be confident they will not be targeted unless they had direct involvement in these abhorrent acts if there is no transparency around why individuals are being stood down from their positions?

There is no arguing the state government has taken a strong stance against child sexual abuse within its ranks. They have also worked to clarify and strengthen processes around the cancellation of Working with Vulnerable People cards. But this has all occurred as a reactive response.

It took extensive media coverage to see an inquiry launched, and questions remain about who knew what and when. Staff morale within each department would have been impacted by the horrific nature of the allegations more broadly.

The stand-downs must continue, where necessary, but the public and fellow employees deserve to know more detail about why they are occurring.

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