An important step has been taken in the Child Safe Governance Review into the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) and Human Resources, which will focus on resetting the organisational structure of the LGH and Human Resources, with a priority focus on the handling of serious misconduct such as institutional child sexual abuse.
While we look forward to the recommendations next year from the Commission of Inquiry, we will not be waiting to take action where it is clear it is needed now. This Review is starting immediately and is about making important and necessary change, through the lens of safeguarding children.
Professor Debora Picone AO and Adjunct Professor Karen Crawshaw PSM have been appointed as independent Co-Chairs of the Governance Advisory Panel which will conduct the Review.
Professor Picone is the CEO of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, a position she has held since 2012. She is a highly respected leader in public administration, with extensive operating and leadership experience in the provision of healthcare services, governance, and hospital administration. In her current role, Professor Picone has led the development and implementation of a series of national system-wide safety and quality programs. Professor Picone was formerly the NSW Health Director-General from 2007-2011.
Adjunct Professor Crawshaw has held several senior executive positions within the NSW Public Service, including as NSW Health’s Director Legal and General Counsel for 17 years. She also worked as Deputy Secretary Governance, Workforce and Corporate until 2017, with responsibility for a broad range of policy areas including health system governance, regulation, legal services, workplace relations and human resources.
Adjunct Professor Crawshaw had key responsibilities for implementing NSW Health’s response to the Garling Inquiry into Acute Care Services and the Wood Royal Commission reference which resulted in major reforms of the NSW child protection system. She continues to provide strategic policy and legal advice to governments and health organisations, including state health departments and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and has just completed her third term as a member of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency’s Governance body (AHPRA).
Both will bring a wealth of important experience to their position as Co-Chairs of the Governance Advisory Panel and will play a key role in the selection of remaining independent experts, with Panel expertise to include child safety, governance, hospital administration and human resources. Unions and staff representatives will complete the membership of the Governance Advisory Panel.
It is incredibly important that the experiences of victim-survivors are a key part of this Review, to ensure their voice is heard and to ensure they are given the opportunity to provide their valuable input. We are committed to listening closely to and working with victim-survivors and that’s why we have created an Expert Reference Group that victim-survivors will be invited to participate in and provide advice to the Review.
An Expression of Interest process for staff to join the panel has been advertised with interested staff able to nominate via a short form email together with their CV and/or experience. All levels of staff participation are encouraged and represents a positive opportunity to work together to reset the structure and child safeguarding approach of the LGH and Human Resources.
The Department has established a central email address in which people can make direct enquiries specifically about the Review: childsafe.governancereview@health.tas.gov.au
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Tasmanian Government is committed to accepting and implementing recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry but is taking action now to drive important and necessary change.
“There is nothing more important than keeping children safe. We are listening and acting now to ensure past wrongs are never repeated,” Premier Rockliff said.
Secretary of the Department of Health, Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, said: “The appointment of Co-Chairs to the Governance Advisory Panel is an important step for the Child Safe Governance Review and I thank Professor Picone and Adjunct Professor Crawshaw for taking on these important roles."
“I have given my personal commitment to our victim-survivors, our staff and to the Commission that I will drive wide-scale change to ensure child safety and wellbeing are embedded in our health leadership, governance and culture," Ms Morgan-Wicks said.
"The advice of the Governance Advisory Panel is critical to ensure that our organisational approach is child-safe, contemporary and leading to help rebuild the trust and confidence of the Launceston community to continue to seek high quality and safe health care.”
The evidence given to the Commission in recent weeks has been very confronting, and it is critical that we ensure that there is a culture of accountable leadership for child safety in our hospitals. That’s why the Review has been established to make recommendations on matters including the LGH’s organisational structure, management and leadership, and mandatory training including mandatory notifications and how to recognise grooming behaviour, with pilot training sessions already underway.
Staff will soon be able to report matters relating to child sexual abuse to a centralised Complaints Management Unit that will be established within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health. This unit will be operational in the coming weeks and will ensure concerns do not need to be raised with immediate supervisors or local management. Inappropriate behaviour by a health staff member, volunteer or contractor can be reported to the Office of the Secretary by using our simple online Reporting Inappropriate Behaviour form.
The Child Safe Governance Review will report its recommendations to the Secretary by November 2022, with a commitment that they will be implemented across the entire Department of Health. The terms of reference for the Governance Review are available at: www.health.tas.gov.au/news/news/child-safe-governance-review
For anyone who is affected, remember that support is available. If you do need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the following organisations: