The head of a child safety service has apologised to the family of Zoe Duncan, telling Tasmania's commission of inquiry it was clear she had been sexually abused and the investigation should have substantiated that.
WARNING: This article contains content that some readers may find distressing.
Child Safety Services (CSS) executive director Claire Lovell also used her time in the witness box at the commission in Launceston to apologise to Tiffany Skeggs, saying CSS should have protected her.
The Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings has heard of catastrophic failings at the Launceston General Hospital around its handling of notorious paedophile and nurse James Geoffrey Griffin and the aftermath of revelations about him.
On Sunday — despite the commission's hearing still being underway — the Tasmanian government announced a review into management at the hospital, flagging the likelihood of "significant changes to leadership roles".
The case of Zoe Duncan
In 2001, 11-year-old Zoe Duncan was admitted to the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) following an asthma flare-up.
Her parents, Craig and Anne, earlier told the commission Zoe had disclosed to them that she had been abused by a male doctor during her stay there.
The Duncans told the hospital immediately — but CSS was not notified for nine days.
Police were only notified five months after the incident. It was the Duncans who reported it, believing the hospital would not.
Both investigations found her claims to be unsubstantiated.
On Monday, Ms Lovell was questioned about the investigation, which was undertaken before she started working for CSS.
Ms Lovell told the commission she was concerned that the report accepted the doctor's account over Zoe's, when the doctor was denying the allegations, despite not knowing their full extent.
She said there was no reason not to believe Zoe.
"It seems that she was making a consistent and clear disclosure that she'd been sexually abused. There doesn't seem to be a reason to discredit that," Ms Lovell told the commission.
"You can't normally place a lot of weight on denial of allegations of child abuse … asking someone whether they have, or haven't, is pretty unlikely to result in the truth."
Ms Lovell told the commission that, while it did not mean there was enough proof for charges or convictions, she believed the report should have been substantiated.
"That's a very poor outcome … for Zoe and her family, and for that I'm extremely sorry that that was their experience. I'm so sorry that that happened."
Zoe died from epilepsy in 2017, aged 28.
She had refused to return to the LGH for treatment.
Tiffany Skeggs
Ms Lovell was also questioned about CSS's contact with Tiffany Skeggs in 2013.
Ms Skeggs told the commission last week she was groomed and abused by Griffin over a number of years.
The abuse began around 12 years of age and continued throughout her teenage years.
She told the commission that when she was in Year 10, she got a call from CSS about Griffin.
The person on the phone, she said, was concerned about reports of her sitting on Griffin's lap at netball games and warned her the behaviour was inappropriate.
CSS spoke to Griffin, then they closed the case.
In their report, CSS listed that there was a prior concern in 2009. This related to allegations that Griffin had been upskirting young girls on the Spirit of Tasmania. The officer did not follow up.
Ms Lovell told the commission it was clear the case should have been looked at further.
"They overlooked the pattern and history," she said.
"I think that's very wrong. The information should've been gathered and that was an oversight."
Asked what she would say to Ms Skeggs, Ms Lovell said she was "very, very moved" by her evidence last week.
"I found it incredibly brave and it's something that influenced me more than most things I've heard in all of my 18 years in working in CSS," she told the commission.
"She described a level of detail which, I think, can only improve our level of understanding about child sexual abuse and the manipulations that occur for children, the difficulty that they have understandably as children in being able to recognise what's happening.
"The most powerful learning comes from people like Ms Skeggs, who can really describe what it's like to be in that and how much control is exerted.
The commission is conducting hearings in Hobart and Launceston until August 19, with live streaming available.
