Abstract
DEAR SIR,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to letters in relation to the Governor-General of Australia as Patron of the College.
As most Fellows now know, the College Executive sent an open letter to the Governor-General on Thursday 28 February 2002 asking him to clarify his position in relation to the sexual abuse of children and pastoral boundary violations. This action was taken as a result of discussion at the College Executive Committee meeting which took place in Sydney on Friday 22 February.
Prior to that meeting, a number of Fellows had brought to the attention of the Executive their concerns in relation to comments attributed to the Governor-General in media reports at that time. (Of particular concern were comments suggesting that the Governor-General failed to report to authorities instances in which there were suggestions of child abuse; the implication that the actions of a 14 year old girl were predatory; a failure to understand the distinction between pastoral care and a sexual relationship; and a lack of understanding and compassion for the effect of sexual abuse on children and young people.)
In the light of these concerns, the Executive took the view that the Governor-General should be given an opportunity to clarify his position directly and that this process should be open and transparent. The Executive appointed Dr Louise Newman, Chair of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as the College spokesperson on this issue.
On receipt of the Governor-General's response to our concerns, we wrote to accept the invitation to provide him with advice on this issue and to express our keenness to work with him and his office to advance the rights of children and adults who are the victims of abuse. As part of this process, we will be seeking a meeting with him as soon as the Executive Director returns from overseas.
Our motivation to act on this matter was always with a view to facilitating appropriate awareness and care for victims of child sexual abuse and maltreatment. We maintain that it is entirely appropriate for us to seek clarification from our Patron in relation to an issue of critical importance to psychiatry such as sexual abuse. We repeat that the action taken was to ask legitimate questions of our Patron, not to assign guilt.
We would also like to make clear that it was never our intention to precipitously remove the Governor-General as a Patron of the College. Such action would never and could never be taken by any group other than the General Council and in consultation with the College membership.
Many Fellows have taken the time to provide comment on our action and we welcome their input. This feedback will form part of a detailed discussion covering all aspects of the matter which will take place at the next meeting of General Council in Brisbane in April and which will be facilitated by the College Executive Director, Craig Patterson.
There is no doubt that boundary violations are a serious issue for psychiatry and it is essential that we speak very clearly against sexual misconduct and abuse in all its forms. We ask all Fellows to consider the importance of the College's statements on sexual misconduct despite and indeed because of our own failures in this area in the past.
Even though this issue has caused controversy, it is our firm belief that, as the elected representatives of the College, we must exhibit leadership on key policy matters. To do anything other than this would be to back away from our responsibility to the community and to the profession.