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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-08 Daily Xml
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CHILDREN IN STATE CARE INQUIRY

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the Mullighan report.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Amongst a number of very significant and disturbing findings and recommendations, on pages 476 and 477 Mr Mullighan reports as follows:

It is apparent to the inquiry that beats such as Veale Gardens have not come under close police scrutiny since the end of a specific police operation about 10 years ago.

Further on he said:

There must always be great reluctance to make recommendations about how police should undertake their work and what that work should be, particularly in an operational sense, but a known haunt for serious crimes involving children, including children in State care, should not be allowed to continue. It is recommended that another operation of the nature of the police operation (operation T) 10 years ago be undertaken and adequately resourced, with a view to detecting sexual crimes against children and young persons in State care at Veale Gardens and other city beats to reduce its prevalence.

The Minister for Police was contacted by TheAustralian newspaper, I assume, some time on Sunday (the following report was in the Monday edition of TheAustralian). The report states as follows:

Police minister Paul Holloway refused several requests to be interviewed by TheAustralian on Mullighan's finding that the sex beats used by paedophiles to pick up children had not come under close police scrutiny for a decade.

My questions are as follows:

1. Has the Minister for Police now been briefed by the Commissioner of Police in relation to this disturbing finding by Mr Mullighan and published in his report and, if so, as the responsible minister, can he outline to the council his response and the Commissioner's response to this finding?

2. Why is the Minister for Police, as the responsible minister, refusing genuine requests from the media—TheAustralian newspaper—to respond to what is a disturbing finding by Mr Mullighan in his report?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:00): To answer the latter question first, I think that, before one speaks to any journalist, it is wise to be properly briefed. In relation to making a comment, I think the request came on a Friday morning. The Mullighan report is some hundreds of pages long (the honourable member referred to a couple of items on pages 476 and 477); it is a very voluminous document. In addition, because these matters relate directly to operational matters, the relevant Assistant Commissioner for Crime has adequately addressed all those issues.

My advice is that in April 2005 the Child Exploitation Investigation Section of the Sexual Crime Investigation Branch commenced Operation Cradle, which emanated from intelligence received by SAPOL that suggested that juveniles from government residential care facilities were involved in prostitution and unlawful sexual intercourse activities in various metropolitan locations, including Veale Gardens.

Specific intelligence at the time indicated that the children involved were frequent absconders from residential care facilities controlled by the Department for Families and Communities. During the course of the operation, a number of children were identified as being critically at risk due to the nature of their social behaviour, criminal offending and continual exposure to sexual exploitation. Intelligence identified that these children attended Veale Gardens and other homosexual beats to perform sexual favours for money.

During the operation, five male adults were arrested and prosecuted for offences of unlawful sexual intercourse, abduction, indecent assault and the production of child pornography. I am advised that the operation was significantly hampered by the reluctance of the alleged victims to disclose information to police, and most of the intelligence received could not be confirmed. Anecdotal intelligence was received that indicated that some degree of organised child prostitution was occurring, but this could not be confirmed.

Operation Cradle made a number of recommendations relating to bail conditions for children at risk, the dissemination of information to relevant local service areas and also regarding the ongoing development of protocols and procedures between Families SA and key stakeholders. The operation also identified the need for SAPOL to consider protocols for the identification and ongoing investigation into children under the guardianship of the minister who regularly abscond. Recommendations were disseminated to relevant metropolitan local service area commanders for actioning.

The policing of these beats is generally the responsibility of local service areas and is carried out by uniformed police, unless a specific direction is given by the local service area commander to conduct covert (plainclothes) operations. Police continually strive to develop a strong liaison with the gay community, and SAPOL continues actively to police any incidents where children are exploited by adults, whether in state care or otherwise. Notification to police can occur through the mandatory notification hotline managed by Families SA, a direct request for police attention, or through a missing persons report from state care facilities, such as Lochiel Park, within the Adelaide local service area.

All such mandatory notifications are managed and investigated by the Adelaide Family Violence Investigation Service and appropriate action is taken. Where missing persons reports are received from state care facilities within the Adelaide local service area, procedures are in place to ensure effective liaison with the state care facilities, and timely investigations are conducted to locate the children. Allegations of children being sexually exploited are investigated by the Family Violence Investigation Section or referred to the Sexual Crimes Investigation Branch.

I am advised that between 2004 and 2007 the Adelaide local service area conducted Operation Fawn during the summer months. This operation was developed to police the unlawful sexual activities of paedophiles in and around the Adelaide central business district, with police making 17 arrests. The operation resulted in a substantial increase in intelligence holdings, widespread liaison with managers of facilities visited by paedophiles and a reduction in reports of paedophile activity. Operation Fawn is to be replaced by the Australian National Child Offender Register for the ongoing management of sex offenders within the Adelaide local service area.

Prior to and during Operation Fawn, the Adelaide Family Violence Investigation Section worked with the Paedophile Task Force regarding the training of staff from the venues that are targeted by paedophiles, such as the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, the Adelaide Central Market, the Payneham and Burnside swimming centres, and various internet cafes, to provide them with increased awareness of the suspect behaviours to monitor.

I am also advised that Adelaide local service area uniformed patrols continue to pay attention to public areas frequented and to respond specifically to reports of unlawful sexual activity and other offences and incidents. The Adelaide local service area community programs section has developed an internet safety training program in conjunction with the Electronic Crime Branch for delivery to school students, parents and guardians. Sessions have been presented at five campuses, and the program is proving very popular. Parents and students are given an overview of the dangers of unsupervised access to the internet by children and the tactics used by paedophiles to exploit children over the internet.

In short, South Australia Police have been very active, including in the operations that I mentioned earlier in relation to dealing with issues that have been associated with paedophilia, in particular at those locations, such as Veale Gardens, where it is known that these issues occur. If one actually looks at the whole range of measures that the government has adopted to help avoid sex offences and to pursue their perpetrators, to protect children and support victims, we need to look at the things we have done. First, we have recruited significant numbers of additional police. Of course, there was the removal of immunity from prosecution for sex offenders, which occurred before December 1982. The Hon. Andrew Evans was, I believe, responsible for moving that particular—

The Hon. R.D. Lawson interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, the government has supported it and we have implemented it with enthusiasm. In fact, that was one of the many necessary steps we have taken. We have doubled the Paedophile Task Force. We have allocated $0.5 million towards South Australia's involvement in the Australian National Child Offender Register. We have increased penalties for those who commit sexual offences against children. We have given courts the power to lock up paedophiles for good when they refuse to be rehabilitated, and to lock up serious repeat offenders for longer periods.

We have made deterrence and the protection of children a primary consideration in sentencing for sex offences against children. We have introduced new offences for child pornography and a five-fold increase in penalties. We have provided additional counselling services to the survivors of childhood sexual abuse. We overhauled child protection initiatives following the review by Robyn Layton, which, I believe, was initiated within days or weeks of this government coming to office. We have established the new Department for Families and Communities to drive the government's child protection policy, Keeping Them Safe.

In over five years we have allocated something like $210 million for child protection reforms. We have amended the child protection laws to place the interests of children as the primary concern. We have created a director of foster care relations. We have established a guardian for children and young people. We have created the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee to advise the government on preventing death and serious injury to children, and we have also set up a special investigation unit to look into cases of alleged abuse of children in alternative care. In coming weeks, we expect commissioner Mullighan's report in relation to the APY lands, where, of course, this government has restored police services after their absence for many years prior to coming to government.

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