Royal Commissions
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Youth detention system has 'failed the Northern Territory'
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The youth detention system in the Northern Territory is one that likely leaves young people more damaged than when they went in, the royal commission's interim report says.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, youth, royal-commissions, darwin-0800
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Turnbull urged to tackle Indigenous 'over-incarceration' amid NT royal commission report
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More than 100 organisations team up to urge the Prime Minister to set an Indigenous justice target and improve juvenile justice nationwide, as the Northern Territory youth detention royal commission delivers its interim report.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-policy, government-and-politics, federal-government, community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, royal-commissions, indigenous-culture, nt, australia
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'Sorry just not enough': Royal commission apologies criticised
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Apologies to victims of child sexual abuse are sometimes weak, insulting and do not go far enough to address the long-term damage, a royal commission hears.
Topics: royal-commissions, human-interest, sexual-offences, community-and-society, nsw, sydney-2000
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Survivors welcome compensation over Retta Dixon abuse Video
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Compensation for years of physical and sexual abuse at a notorious home for Aboriginal children will provide relief but will never erase the trauma of what happened, former residents say.
Topics: royal-commissions, nt
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Survivors welcome compensation over Retta Dixon abuse
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Compensation for years of physical and sexual abuse at a notorious home for Aboriginal children will provide relief but will never erase the trauma of what happened, former residents say.
Topics: royal-commissions, sexual-offences, child-abuse, aboriginal, law-crime-and-justice, stolen-generations, darwin-0800
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Adults who molest children 'often popular members of community'
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Child abusers rarely behave like the predatory monsters they are stereotyped to be, and are often well-respected members of the community, a royal commission hears.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, child-abuse, community-and-society, family-and-children, sexual-offences, sydney-2000
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Calls for change were 'ignored at highest level', says former Don Dale manager
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The former assistant general manager at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre accepts some responsibility for the centre's failures, but says his attempts to improve conditions were ignored.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, law-crime-and-justice, crime, prisons-and-punishment, nt
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Don Dale guards organised fights for entertainment, ex-detainees say
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Several former Don Dale detainees tell the NT youth detention royal commission guards bribed them with soft drink, chocolate and threats of isolation to fight each other.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, law-crime-and-justice, crime, prisons-and-punishment, child-abuse, nt
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'Survivors have waited too long,' sex abuse royal commissioner says
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The issue of redress for victims of child sexual abuse must be urgently tackled by governments and institutions, Justice Peter McClellan says, as the royal commission holds its final public hearing.
Topics: royal-commissions, child-abuse, australia, sydney-2000, act, nsw, nt, qld, sa, tas, vic, wa
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NT youth justice officer recruits undergo revamped training course
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A new six-week training program is underway for youth justice officers in the Northern Territory which aims to better educate those on the frontline of youth detention.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, child-abuse, crime, youth, royal-commissions, darwin-0800, alice-springs-0870, nt
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Don Dale detainees labelled 'little black camp dogs' by officers
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Four former officers at the youth detention centre give evidence at the royal commission about a "boy's club" mentality focused on punishment.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, crime, prisons-and-punishment, child-abuse, darwin-0800
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'I was on the streets and I was mad': Bush kid's journey to jail
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A look into the world of a former Don Dale detainee, who as a boy hunted for kangaroo and dugong and spoke three languages but who entered adulthood behind bars.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, youth, community-and-society, aboriginal-language, aboriginal, prisons-and-punishment, darwin-0800, nt
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Jewish child sexual abuse victims 'shunned after making allegations'
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Ultra-orthodox Jews believed it was a sin to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the police, and shunned those who did, a royal commission is told.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, community-and-society, royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, child-abuse, sydney-2000, melbourne-3000
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'I blacked out': Video shows guards tackling boy at Don Dale
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Footage of an incident in 2016 in which a teenager ended up in hospital after being tackled to the ground by guards in Don Dale is released by the royal commission into youth detention.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, law-crime-and-justice, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, darwin-0800, nt
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'DH' says he was put in a bad cell after returning from hospital following a run-in with guards. Video
Video
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'DH' ended up in hospital after this incident at Don Dale, which was captured on CCTV.
Topics: royal-commissions, nt
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Royal commission told 'rules didn't matter at Don Dale'
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No evacuation plans or standardised procedures were in operation at Don Dale prior to 2014, the royal commission is told by the author of its manuals.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, darwin-0800
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Anglican Church used as 'safe haven' to sexually abuse children, inquiry hears
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Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies tells the child sex abuse royal commission that the church offered "cheap forgiveness" to offenders, who he said were mostly laypeople with easy access to youth groups and other church-run organisations.
Topics: royal-commissions, child-abuse, anglicans, religion-and-beliefs, sydney-2000, nsw
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Sporting programs were shut down at Don Dale, former guard tells royal commission
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Attempts by staff to rehabilitate juvenile detainees using sports and weights training at the Don Dale detention centre were shut down by senior managers, the royal commission hears.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, law-crime-and-justice, nt, darwin-0800
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Child sex abuse probe at school urged after second teacher confesses
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Advocates for child sex abuse victims demand action after a second former teacher at Hobart private school St Michael's Collegiate admits having sex with a student, a man to whom the school later provided a glowing reference and who went on to become principal of a Queensland school.
Topics: sexual-offences, child-abuse, anglicans, royal-commissions, hobart-7000, tas, qld
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Explicit video shows Don Dale guard asking child inmates for oral sex Video
Video
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Explicit videos filmed by former Don Dale guard Conan Zamolo were tendered as evidence to the royal commission showing the former guard's behaviour towards children.
Topics: royal-commissions, darwin-0800
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Snapchat videos show Don Dale officer asking children for oral sex
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A former Don Dale guard tells the royal commission he was "joking" when he asked youth detainees to perform oral sex, and "goofing around" in a separate incident where he encouraged a boy to "eat s***".
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, youth, royal-commissions, nt, darwin-0800
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Don Dale female detainees given morning-after pill following alleged sex during riot
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Three girls at Darwin's Don Dale detention centre were given the morning-after pill after allegedly having sex in a pool with male detainees during a riot in 2011, a royal commission is told.
Topics: royal-commissions, youth, law-crime-and-justice, nt, darwin-0800, alice-springs-0870
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Systemic failures in NT youth detention, minister concedes
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The Northern Territory minister previously in charge of corrective services, Gerry McCarthy, admits to systemic failures in the youth detention system and an "extreme" lack of staff training.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, youth, darwin-0800
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Anglican Church 'ashamed' about 1,000 complaints of child sex abuse
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Every Anglican Church diocese in the country bar one has received complaints of child sexual abuse in the past 35 years, a report finds.
Topics: royal-commissions, child-abuse, sexual-offences, religion-and-beliefs, anglicans, australia, sydney-2000, melbourne-3000
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Anglican church head stands by school after second student sex case
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Tasmania's Anglican Bishop Richard Condie is standing by St Michael's Collegiate in Hobart after a second former teacher fronted court for maintaining sexual relations with a student.
Topics: child-abuse, sexual-offences, anglicans, royal-commissions, hobart-7000
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