ACT Ombudsman public statement about a reportable conduct investigation

ACT Ombudsman public statement about a reportable conduct investigation

ACT Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe today released a public statement on an investigation into the response of the Education Directorate to an allegation of reportable conduct about a teacher and their interactions with a student.

Given the sensitive nature of reportable conduct matters, the ACT Ombudsman (the Office) will not provide any further details on the nature of the allegation.

The Office conducted a thorough investigation of this matter and has provided a comprehensive report on the findings to the Education Directorate. The report made seven general recommendations to the Directorate.

Mr Manthorpe said he decided to make a public statement about the investigation, because although our investigation was specific to the actions of the Education Directorate, some of the issues we discovered and some of the recommendations we made, may be equally of benefit to other organisations covered by the scheme.

Background

The ACT Reportable Conduct Scheme (the scheme) was introduced on 1 July 2017 to improve organisation-related child protection. The Office has the role of overseeing how organisations prevent and respond to allegations of misconduct by an employee or volunteer against children. The scheme also allows for information relating to child safety to be shared between relevant government agencies, professional registration bodies and organisations covered by the scheme. This investigation was the first use of the Ombudsman’s powers under s 17K of the Ombudsman Act 1989 (the Act) to investigate an organisation’s response to a reportable conduct allegation.

Further

The ACT Ombudsman will not be conducting interviews in regards to this statement. Further information on this Office’s activities in relation to reportable conduct can be found in the ACT Ombudsman’s annual report which was tabled on 12 October 2018.