Taskforce to probe sex offender bungle

[creampie]

The Victorian Government has assembled a ministerial taskforce to investigate failings in the sex offenders registration scheme.

The Ombudsman savaged government agencies for putting the rights of sex offenders above those of vulnerable children.

Its report to Parliament found more than 700 children spent unsupervised time with 376 registered sex offenders over the past six years because of bungling by government agencies.

In at least one case abuse occurred during the contact.

Police Minister Peter Ryan will chair the taskforce and says government agencies will have to change their priorities.

"I can understand how in their mind they had a concern about the operation of these programs from a longer-term perspective, but it is the interests of those children who are involved in this reporting process which are the absolute paramount interest," he said.

"We are going to look after them."

The Ombudsman's report says Corrections Victoria and the Department of Human Services (DHS) had a standing agreement not to share information without the prior consent of the sex offender.

The Ombudsman criticises the DHS for agreeing to the arrangement and found the situation left children "exposed to unacceptable risk".

The report says the failing represents a "systemic breakdown in the management of registered sex offenders".

It also says the agencies involved breached their obligations under Victoria's Charter of Human Rights and recommends changes to the applicable guidelines and legislation.

Earlier, Victoria Police released a statement saying it "deeply regrets" the failures detailed in the report.

"As the report notes, Victoria Police moved quickly to rectify the situation as soon as it became aware that children at risk had not been reported to DHS," the statement said.

"We do not agree with the Ombudsman's suggestion that shortcomings in the management of the program were due to a lack of commitment in Victoria Police."

But the state's Child Safety Commissioner, Bernie Geary, says the rights of sex offenders are being protected at the expense of the state's most vulnerable children.

He says the findings highlight the need for urgent reform.

"We need to be looking at this in a way that legislatively protects children who are the most vulnerable in this situation and so their rights need to be paramount," he said.

Dr Lynette Buoy of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare says the rights of sex offenders should not have been placed above those of children.

"They're the children that have already experienced in their life issues of cumulative harm of some sort, that's why they've come into the system," she said.

"They are our most vulnerable children and we should be protecting them like good parents, good citizens. We should never be placing them at further risk."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 134404.htm