Brett Robinson was confused when Tasmanian Child and Family Services took him out of the house he shared with his father.
Key points:
- Brett Robinson told the Tasmanian Child Sexual Abuse Commission of Inquiry that he was taken out of his father’s care where he felt safe and placed in unsafe housing.
- Communities Department Secretary Michael Pervan apologized to the three witnesses who this week shared their allegations of abuse while in charge of the state.
- The commission also learned that there are no standards for out-of-home care in Tasmania, but standards are being developed.
Warning: This article contains content that some may find distressing.
Robinson told the Commission of Inquiry on Tasmanian government’s response to child sexual abuse in institutional settings on Friday that it put him on a path that led to juvenile detention and destroyed his life.
Robinson told the commission that he and his father had “been arguing” and that police and child protection workers had come to his home.
He said he had never felt insecure with his father and that “he had been my stone all my life.”
Mr. Robinson said he was initially told he would be taken away for a couple of days, then a week, but it was much longer.
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Robinson, who was 12 or 13 at the time, was transferred to nursing homes where he lived with other children and caregivers working on a list system.
“It was a pretty bad time for me, and for my dad too. Dad was pretty upset and wanted me home,” he said.
Robinson told the commission he was sexually abused in one of the houses.
He told the commission that he revealed the abuse to a caregiver, who told her to shut up and she didn’t believe it, but a couple of weeks later, she told her parents and they contacted police.
Robinson said talking to police about the abuse was too difficult and he could not continue with the interview.
“When it came time to give details … I couldn’t speak,” he told the commission of inquiry.
Robinson said he was taken to a home further away from his father. He continued to try to return home, but told the commission that every time he did, the police waited for him and returned him to the residence.
He said he later started living on the street.
“Every now and then I would get in a car and just sleep in the back,” he said.
He told the commission he had no access to the money.
“Welcome to Ashley, boy”
At the age of 14, Robinson ended up in the Ashley Juvenile Detention Center. He described to the commission how he was “welcomed” into the center.
“Basically, they took me to the admissions unit … They left me there for a couple of minutes and then their worker came in and basically started searching,” he told the commission.
“They had already looked for me at the police station and I didn’t have to take off my shorts. [there]so I didn’t think I would [at Ashley]. “
But Robinson told the commission that Ashley’s worker ordered him to remove them.
“I basically pretended not to hear him and went to get my clothes, and he hit me on the floor, he practically ripped off my shorts and then he said to me … ‘You’re not listening to me.'” said Mr. Robinson.
“Then he ran his finger basically down my ass cheeks and put a finger in it and said, ‘Welcome to Ashley, boy. Do what they tell you.
Robinson told the commission the detainees were “treated like shit” and “despised.”
“There were a couple of nice people who worked there, and they didn’t treat you like that, and when they worked, basically I guess they would keep other officers in line,” he said.
Robinson told the commission he was “tied up” once when he did not return to his cell quickly enough, and that workers used “control sleeves” that could be tightened because “it looks like it would break your wrists “. .
He told the commission that the detainees were regularly isolated and that their longest period of solitary confinement was six weeks.
He told the commission that when he first left Ashley, he was placed in another residence and “just went downstairs.”
Robinson thanked the commissioners for listening to his story.
“If anything comes out, either [the current Ashley Youth Detention Centre] or the next center, just flood the place full of cameras … make sure these kids don’t have an angle where they don’t feel safe, because it’s wrong, ”he said.
“It has destroyed my life and it has destroyed so many other lives I know.”
The department secretary apologizes
The Tasmanian Communities Department is responsible for caring for children outside the home in the state.
Department Secretary Michael Pervan also testified Friday.
“I am very sorry that we were not there for you,” he told the three witnesses who told the ill-treatment committee what happened while they were in charge of the state.
“The fact that people in our systems don’t feel loved and safe is a tremendous tragedy, especially for Azra, who was asking for it.
“I want to say sincerely and genuinely that we are very sorry that the system let her down so much.”
The commission also learned that there are no standards for out-of-home care in Tasmania.
Pervan said the rules will be issued later this month.
Posted 6 hours, 6 hours ago, Friday, June 17, 2022 at 5:26 AM, last updated 2 hours, 2 hours ago, Friday, June 17, 2022 at 9:55 AM