01-07-2025
Queensland review into responses to child sexual abuse hears complaints against Ashley Paul Griffith made 'more than once'
Defamation fears and a focus on an organisation's "reputation" may act as a deterrent to raising concerns about childcare staff, a Queensland review into child sexual abuse responses has heard.
Paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith is appealing his life sentence after last year pleading guilty to abusing dozens of children over almost 20 years at childcare centres in Brisbane.
The Child Death Review Board (CDRB) is currently reviewing system responses to child sexual abuse in Queensland — using Griffith's offending as a case study.
The latest progress report, published late last week, detailed what the review has heard so far, including that the early childhood education and care workforce is large and highly casualised, and pressures may impact the quality of recruitment processes, including the "robustness" of referee checks.
"[In addition] the prioritisation of an organisation's reputation, a fear of defamation and legal risks to organisations and individuals may act as a deterrent to raising or sharing concerns about a person, particularly where complaints have not been substantiated," the progress report said.
"Unclear information sharing processes and a fear of privacy breaches may also create an environment where early indicators of potential harm are minimised. This impacts the system's capacity to detect child sexual abuse, including by identifying patterns over time and across services."
Queensland police have previously said Griffith was subject to two reports about his behaviour in the two years leading up to his arrest, however there was "insufficient evidence to take action" at the time.
An internal inquiry found police investigated the claims appropriately.
The progress report said initial findings from the CDRB review show 'more than one complaint' was made about Griffith to his employers, the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority and QPS.
"Of these complaints, the available information suggests they were not always progressed, and information was not shared between agencies," the report said.
"Prior complaints made to QPS did not proceed to prosecution. This meant that up until the offender's arrest in 2022, there were no pending investigations, charges or convictions against him, and he met all requirements to obtain and maintain a Blue Card."
Queensland's working with children check — the Blue Card screening process — looks for a charge or conviction for any offence in Australia, child protection prohibition orders, and domestic violence information.
The CDRB review has heard a "lack of understanding" of the limitations of the Blue Card system "may result in a false sense of security" in organisations where workers hold the card.
"The Blue Card system is not designed to collect information on early indicators of harm or to identify patterns over time and across organisations, particularly where complaints about a person have been investigated and found to be unsubstantiated due to a lack of evidence," the progress report said.
"The implementation of a reportable conduct scheme in Queensland, which will commence in 2026, will improve the collation and sharing of this type of information."
The review also heard police face "continued challenges" in investigating child sexual abuse offences, including "the high evidentiary threshold" for prosecution.
"Officers must be satisfied there is sufficient evidence to prove a matter beyond reasonable doubt. This is especially difficult for young children who may not be able to talk or have a limited vocabulary," the progress report said.
"[The review has also heard] an investigation into a report of abuse that does not reach the necessary threshold to pursue criminal charges does not mean the abuse did not happen.
"Further action is needed to proactively identify and respond to any potential risks posed by individuals where criminal proceedings were not undertaken due to insufficient evidence."
The report said the review team had held its first "expert roundtable" to examine the timeline of Griffiths' offending and share insights, engaged with people impacted by his offending and supported them to make submissions to the review, and issued information requests.
It has also received more than 17,000 pages of material and 36 hours of video footage and audio recordings from investigations after Griffith's offending came to light.
The team has also spoken with regulators, ombudsmen and children's commissioners in other jurisdictions to "gain national and cross-jurisdictional perspectives".
The inadequate supervision of children was the top breach of the national law identified by the early childhood regulator in Queensland in 2023-24.
The CDRB's final report is expected to be delivered this year.
