St Andrew’s Cathedral School holds the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility. All children have the right to feel safe and to be protected from abuse, maltreatment and harm. Our commitment to a Christian ethos calls us to be above reproach in our responsibilities to all children and young people in our care, not only in promoting their wellbeing but in protecting them from any kind of harm or abuse.
Remembering truthfully
At the School we are committed to remembering our history with humility, celebrating both our successes and also remembering and acknowledging institutional failures. We seek to acknowledge any historical failures to protect children in the School’s care, knowing the importance of listening and affirming survivor’s experiences in their long journey towards healing.
Child Protection and Safeguarding
The School has put into place appropriate policies and procedures to prevent any such failures from occurring again in the future. If you have information or want to disclose anything to the School, you can contact us confidentially. All information provided will be treated confidentially and sensitively.
National Redress Scheme
One of the key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was the National Redress Scheme.
The National Redress Scheme provides support to people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse. The Scheme acknowledges the damage done to people as children. It helps people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse gain access to counselling and a redress payment. It also gives the option of a personal response from the institution, for example, an apology.
The Scheme started on 1 July 2018 and will run for 10 years.
What help is available:
You can apply to the National Redress Scheme if you:
- Experienced institutional child sexual abuse before 1 July 2018, and
- Were born before 30 June 2010, and
- Are an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
You can make an application at any time between now and 30 June 2027.
The website has information about the availability of free and confidential redress support services.