This part twelve of a series by Dr Chris Atmore on the Luke Batty inquest.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner for the South Metro Region, Luke Cornelius, gave evidence today. This was followed by a personal statement from Rosie Batty, and her photographic tribute to Luke. Continue reading
This afternoon we heard evidence from Beth Allen, Assistant Director, Child Protection Unit, Statutory and Forensic Services Design Branch of the Department of Human Services. Together with the impact of the suppression order of the morning, it was difficult Continue reading
This morning Rosie’s legal team and media lawyers argued, against the Commission for Children and Young People and the Department of Human Services, that the Commission’s report of its inquiry into the death of Luke Batty should be at least partly available for direct use in examination of remaining witnesses and for the public to be able to access via media reports. Continue reading
The inquest heard today from a range of services that assisted Rosie and Luke, via a GP, an art therapist, a family violence service worker, a victims of crime counselling service, and a family violence applicant support worker. Continue reading
The inquest into Luke Batty’s death resumed today. For an overview of the key issues so far, see the previous eight days of this blog or the summary in Croakey. Continue reading
Child Protection worker Tracie Portelli was cross-examined today. The Court heard last week on Day Three that following contact with Child Protection, Rosie signed an undertaking to protect Luke from Anderson, because Child Protection deemed her a protective parent. This afternoon Rosie’s Senior Counsel suggested to Ms Portelli that the undertaking and the FVIO, with its limited and public contact between Anderson and Luke, were inconsistent: how could Rosie protect Luke if, for example, Anderson suddenly took him away, without putting herself at risk, which the intervention order was designed to prevent? Continue reading
As the inquest reaches Day Seven, it is worth returning again to the system approach. Of course we know that people sometimes commit wilful acts or behave in grossly negligent ways. However, James Reason stresses the importance of focusing less on the individual origins of error and much more on the system context of those acts or omissions. One of the advantages of this stance is that it helps us identify the recurrent patterns in avoidable deaths. Reason points out that if the approach used doesn’t seek out and remove the properties within the system at large that lead to or increase the possibility of a death, we won’t enhance safety. Continue reading
