A notice from the Education Department in a local newspaper was how a victim of sexual abuse by a Tasmanian high school teacher found out her abuser had been re-employed with no breach found.
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The victim-survivor - using the pseudonym 'Rachel' - described a range of problems in the department's two-year investigation into a complaint regarding abuse committed from 2005 when she was aged 15.
She detailed how she was offered no support during the process, had to give evidence to just two men who were outsourced from the department and did not feel comfortable or supported to disclose all of the abuse.
While the investigation was ongoing, the teacher was able to start a public campaign to get himself reinstated at the school without recourse, and continued to attempt to contact the victim including with phone calls and letters.
Complaint handling process left victim feeling broken
The teacher abused Rachel after grooming her at the school and during long drives to sporting events, including physically touching her and buying her inappropriate gifts - behaviours which both escalated.
Rachel's mother made a conduct complaint about the teacher after seeing his inappropriate behaviour while on a trip to a sporting event, but she was unaware of the full extent of the abuse.
After the complaint was made, two men started an investigation for the department which included four interviews with Rachel, some of which occurred at the school.
Without any support and feeling unsafe during the process, Rachel said she did not feel like she could fully disclose the abuse.
"There were points where I really really wanted to, when the interviews were happening at home I would say to myself, 'Rachel just come out and say it, tell them what's happening," she said.
Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in Tasmania:
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- Mother's LGH nurse complaint ignored, daughter left 'screaming'
- Tasmania to bring in US-style therapy for at-risk youth
- How a 'confusing' web of integrity bodies could harm oversight in Tasmania
- Tasmanian children put back in abusive homes due to system failures
- 'Cultures of hate': gender diverse child accosted in school
"I would just go, 'nup, can't do it', and I would cry in my bed every night ... why me, why me? Why can't I just tell them the truth?"
Around the same time, Rachel would fear seeing the teacher out in public - situations which occurred, when he would show an "arrogant face [and] smile" towards her.
After two years, Rachel and her mother were brought into a meeting with the Education Department when they were told the teacher had not breached the State Service Code of Conduct.
Rachel then disclosed the full extent of the abuse.
"I was sitting on my hands, I was shacking, my heart was just beating so fast. I managed to tell them and go through exactly what had happened," she said.
She was made to put this in writing, and again with Tasmania Police.
The family went to the Teachers Registration Board, but Rachel said a statement based on her verbal evidence was incomplete. The teacher also appealed a decision, but Rachel was not asked to be involved in the appeal process and still - to this day - has been unable to get an answer under Right to Information.
Rachel was also not told about how her full disclosure was handled by the department.
'I felt betrayed, I felt neglected': outcome publicly published
Without being informed earlier, a notice appeared in a local newspaper from the Education Department stating the teacher had been appointed to the department in Hobart in 2007.
The public notice - which named the teacher - said no breach had been found after an "extensive investigation".
Rachel said it was shattering.
"I was gutted, I felt betrayed, I felt neglected. That was so difficult coming out with the truth - that it hadn't been listened to," she said.
"I just felt that my trust had been betrayed, and that they were protecting the perpetrator and protecting themselves, and my complaint wasn't taken seriously."
When she made her full disclosure, Rachel was confident the department would continue to investigate.
She was unaware whether this occurred.
"I thought that that meant everything was still open and that the investigation hadn't finished," Rachel said.
"If someone comes out with that information, how can you close an investigation?"
The Commission of Inquiry continues on Wednesday.
Sexual assault support services:
- Sexual Assault Support Service (Tasmania): 1800 697 877
- Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114
- Tasmania's Victims of Crime Service: 1300 300 238
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