Jolanda

The governments have the money, look at the money that is starting to go out for campaigning for the elections now. Its disgusting.

You are right. So many parents do protect the abusers, its called fear and the power that the perpetrator has over the victims.

When we were locked up we were in "care" of the State that meant they were our "carers" doing what some parents were supposed to be doing.

The ones that went threw the Children's courts were charged with Exposed to Moral danger and Uncontrollable

Then we were in more moral danger at the hands of our "carers".
So where does the responsibility lie. I say the Child Welfare system and all governments.

I think there should be a Royal Commission.

That way it can help people that have been abused while in institutions know that there lost child hood has not been completely ignored and acknowledged.
and it could also make a difference for the Children of to day.



Rattles

What scares me is that the attitude displayed in here towards Wilma and her story depicts the general apathy in society towards people and the past in general.

Is it any wonder that Australia as a nation has a fantastic knack of being able to sweep the unpleasant under a rug and present the 'pretty picture' of our history.

The Aussie 'my dog is blacker than your dog' attitude helps noone and hinders many.

The scary thing is also that this is not the past, but the present.

Some people may be able to deal with life's hurdles better than others and some may feel the need to tear others down or apart because it is the only way they can feel 'good' about themselves.. neither action maketh the man.

Where has compassion gone?

and what about understanding?

without those two things where is hope?

You cannot change the future unless you acknowledge and rectify the past.

Wether people knew this was happening or not makes no difference and it is through people with the strength and courage like Bernie and Wilma that will see to it that people know.

Knowledge is power and power and knowledge are desperatley needed in this society.

So thank you both Bernie and Wilma.

Hirez ”Got your measure very well Mr. Rouge.”

If you were not a moron, you would have been able to see one pace beyond the end of your nose.

Example (applies to all organisation); when I read about church cover-ups of pedophile priest, the bishops who, for the good name of their church, hide the perverts away from public scrutiny and pretend “all is well”, then that is the sort of thing I am talking about.

If the apologists of all these institutions were to stand up and expose their corrupt co-workers, subordinates and supervisors, corrupt practices would disappear. Covering it up merely moves it in a dark place to fester and grow, unobserved.

So regarding “Corrupt officials are not the problem- somehow it was the lazy stupid ones that were meant to tame the excesses of the corrupt one is what the problem was”

I note, you include no structural suggestions to how to overcome the problem, merely small-minded footstamps.

Only someone with a mind and experience of organisational structures and responsibility so small as to be negligible would interpret my observation your way.

Corrupt officials do not exist in a vacuum. They exist within an organization, working alongside, for and with other officials.

When I have found people who work for be behaving corruptly, I have terminated their employment instantly. Better "corruption" be dealt with and the corrupt removed than left to spread and infect further.

I merely expect the same standard of ethics in others as I apply to myself and endeavour to exercise through my own conduct.

I suggest you get some experience of how real “organizations” work, before you bother to criticize my posts.

Fruitfly – “Hirez, Do you know Col Rouge? I think you hit the nail on the head”

Like you, he does not; and like you he is simply “firing from the hip” - probably because the lacks the basic skills to think properly.

O sung wu – thank you for your support, we have, obviously, interpreted and react to our own responsibilities in real life in similar ways.

Hi to all of you.

Having carefully read all your various contributions in relation to this most horrid, of all serious crimes. I reckon we're all pretty well on the same page. I don't suppose any of us would provide succour or attempt to mitigate in any way whatsoever, the inhuman conduct perpetrated against our precious young. Or similar crime that has been committed against our defenceless aged folk, either.

I believe the time has now arrived, where all these pretentious barriers should be immediately dismantled. The 'excuse' industry, shown the door. All the 'politicking', immediately laid aside. And the Judiciary be DIRECTED to apply the heaviest of penalties (upon conviction) to those who appear before them, on these abhorrent crimes against humanity !

Let there be no more excuses offered. No more abrogation of responsibility, by ANYONE, Church or State. Give police the necessary 'where with all' to reach out and nail these 'festering' miscreants. Make sure the Courts apply the very heaviest of sentences. And turn gaol back into gaol, absolutely !

Even the hardest of crims, will have no truck with any of these vile 'rock spider' types ! None at all! Least of all, the author of the original article, Bernard Thomas MATTHEWS !

The mark of a mature society, is measured by the way we care for our most vulnerable, the young, and for our aged, alike !

Fortunately I have made a good life for myself even though i went through the disgusting childcare system of the 50s and60s.8 different govt homes,4 sets of sexually abusive foster families ,3 trips to Parramatta and 1 to Hay.I have met many women who were shown the door with 16 dollars in hand and told to make a life.Many of them headed straight to their old stamping grounds as they knew no where else to go.Some,like me, have been lucky.Others bogged down in the mire and quite a few are dead.
If i hadnt married at 17 and left Sydney,i may well have ended up like some of my poor friends.

I believe most people want all those atrocities in the open so that hopefully we can stop it happening again.Children deserve better than to be made slaves and sex objects out of.

Some people are stronger than others and have had more support.How can anyone point a finger at the ones who didn't become "normal" citizens when they don't know and didn't share the raising of these individuals.Let those without sin cast the first stone.No i am not religious,just think those great words to live by.haygirl

Bernie Matthews stories about the abuse that institutionalised children were subjected to in NSW in the 1950s and 1960s makes confronting reading. I think its important that these stories of abuse are told so that we can be alert and watch out to make sure that that institutionalised child abuse isn't allowed to flourish today.

I can't imagine a more humiliating introduction to puberty than that foisted upon Wilma. When stories circulated that the privatised womens' prison in Victoria, Fairlie, was rationing of sanitary pads, the state government sacked the private prison operators.