An Independent Inquiry into abuse at Dilworth School

The Dilworth Trust Board commissioned an Independent Inquiry to review the nature and extent of sexual and serious physical abuse of Dilworth students, from 1950 to the present day, and to find out how and why it happened. The Inquiry was funded by the school but remained completely independent of it.

The Inquiry has been led by The Hon. Dame Silvia Cartwright, with Frances Joychild, a senior barrister and King’s Counsel, as Co-Inquirer. They commenced work on 1 July 2022. It employed a staff of 3 lawyers, 3 investigators, 3 wellness navigators, a senior administrator, 2 legal assistants and head of secretariat. It also employed others for short periods to do specific tasks.

The Inquiry was specific to Dilworth. It has only examined matters related to the school, and is separate from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

Of the 171 former students who provided information to the Inquiry about sexual abuse, 126 reported being sexually abused at Dilworth.

The Inquiry is also aware of a further 49 boys who were sexually abused by Dilworth staff or associated adults.

We believe the number who were sexually abused is likely to be higher and we note the New Zealand Police estimates 233 student victims.

We have found that sexual abuse was committed consistently at Dilworth from the mid-1950s until the end of 2005. It peaked between the 1970s and 1990s.

The Inquiry is aware of four students who attended in the Conolly era who were sexually abused, 69 in the Parr era, 89 in the Wilton era and 31 in the MacLean era. No student from the Reddiex era registered with the Inquiry. Some students were abused under two headmaster eras.

In relation to physical abuse, of the 159 former Dilworth students who provided information about physical abuse, 134 reported having been seriously physically abused there.

There are two broad categories of this reported abuse. The first was bullying, which was mostly perpetrated by older, larger or otherwise more powerful students. The other entailed physical assaults on students by house tutors, house masters and teachers, mostly by the excessive use of caning well outside the guidelines.

The report, including the executive summary and appendices comes to 500 pages.

The examination of sexual and serious physical abuse in the report is structured in five parts, each part corresponding to the tenure of each of the five Headmasters since 1 January 1950 to the present day.

It will take several hours to read. You may need to take breaks as you read the report as it includes distressing content.

Yes. The report comprehensively describes the nature and extent of sexual and serious physical abuse at Dilworth school from 1950 to the present day, as reported to the Inquiry.

The Inquiry has chosen to include some of the former students' descriptions of the abuse and its impacts in their own words. However, many of these accounts are graphic and may be distressing. Some contain explicit language. They may be difficult to read and could evoke strong emotions.

If you need support, please contact your GP or healthcare provider.

The report also outlines complaints of abuse that were made at the time and later and how the staff and Trust Board responded to them.

We acknowledge that waiting for the final report to be released would have been difficult, but it was important that we were thorough and heard everyone who wanted to speak with us. The publication date had to be pushed out as more former students registered.

The Inquiry entailed a significant amount of work – we interviewed a total of 416 people and drew up 265 written statements.

We hope today’s release goes some way to providing the closure we know many former students have been waiting for.

The school cooperated with the Inquiry and ensured we had the required resources to conduct our work.

Dilworth has undertaken a significant amount of work in recent years to ensure it has appropriate policies and procedures in place, including obtaining an international child safety programme accreditation.

Other changes that we believe Dilworth needs to make are included in our recommendations.

There is more work to do, and continuous monitoring will be required, to ensure the abuse that occurred at Dilworth never happens again.

Convicted staff, alive or dead, have been named in the report. Staff members who are alive have been named only in respect of abuse for which they have been convicted.

Former staff who were charged, but not convicted before death, have been named. Deceased uncharged people are named only if there is more than one complaint against them. Staff who have not been charged are not named so as not to hinder any future criminal proceedings.

The report also names those who were or are in senior leadership positions when events took place such as headmasters and deputy headmasters, Trust Board chairs and members, and Anglican Church bishops.

The work of the Inquiry finishes upon publication of its report. Responsibility for addressing the recommendations now rests with Dilworth School and its Trust Board.

The Inquiry website will however remain online, with the report and a range of other material.

The Dilworth Trust Board has created a Redress Programme. It is completely separate from the Inquiry and the Inquiry has had no role in its creation or operation. Information on redress can be found on the website www.dilworthredress.org.nz. All questions about redress should be made to the school.

No. The Inquiry was specific to Dilworth.

There are 19 recommendations which have been grouped under nine headings:

• Transforming Dilworth governance
• Ensuring professional oversight of school performance
• Assisting recovery from historical abuse
• Maintaining and enhancing student safety
• Considering the future direction of the school
• Improving school systems
• Vetting, supervising, and developing and training staff
• Supporting students and staff after publication of the Inquiry report, and
• Developing positive external relationships

1. Reform and revitalise the Dilworth Trust Board

That Dilworth Trust Board reforms and revitalises its structure and implements change, so its members have the wide variety of governance skills and experience necessary to govern a boarding school of students ranging from primary to secondary level. Up to now the Board has been dominated by men with professional and business skills and it has never had a parent on the Board.

2. Establish continuous external review and oversight of school performance

That the Dilworth Trust Board establish a system of continuous external review and oversight of the school’s performance with professional and reputable external educational consultants. Up to now the Board has had no equivalent independent review to that provided to State and Integrated schools through the Education Review Office (ERO). As a private school it is very lightly regulated by the ERO.

3. Collaborate with survivors

That the Dilworth Trust Board consults widely and collaborates with abused former students and families and whānau of deceased former students who were or are suspected of having been abused, and works with them to identify what steps are needed to supplement the current redress programme and to help them and the wider Dilworth community to heal and move forward.

4. Heal rifts within the former students’ community

That the Dilworth Trust Board works to improve its relationship with all former students of the school.

5. Undertake continuing reviews of child protection and complaints policies and practices

That the Dilworth Trust Board, on an ongoing basis, maintains and continues to review and implement the suite of child protection and complaints policies it has put in place to ensure their ongoing maximum effectiveness.

6. Update the Protected Disclosure/Whistleblower Policy

That the Dilworth Trust Board updates the Protected Disclosure/Whistleblower Policy.

7. Supplement the student safety programme reviews

That the Dilworth Trust Board supplements the student safety programme’s three-yearly review with a parallel review of the school’s processes and procedures to ensure cultural safety and to reflect the needs of the school community, and that it engage an external provider with the appropriate cultural background and expertise to undertake the review.

8. Ensure a safeguarding leadership succession plan

That the Dilworth Trust Board, in consultation with the headmaster and senior staff continue to ensure a safeguarding leadership succession plan is in place to maintain the continuity of the school’s commitment to its child protective measures.

9. Continue to improve the relationship with parents

That:

(a) The Dilworth Trust Board and school further develops its relationship with parents, guardians, and family and whānau of students by continuing to support the parent groups.

(b) The Dilworth Trust Board and school continues to ensure there is an effective parent contact system where parents and whānau are confident they are closely in touch with the school on all important matters affecting their children, such as medical and mental health matters as they arise, treatment options, homesickness, discipline, and student achievement and performance.

10. Whānau and senior student representation on the safeguarding committee

That the Dilworth Board ensures parents, whānau and senior student representation on the school’s safeguarding committee.

11. Regularly review and consult widely on whether the current model is best to implement the trust’s aspirations

That the Dilworth Trust Board, after consideration of high quality, relevant contemporary research and the views of the pastoral care team, current staff, parents and whānau, and the wider Dilworth community, review regularly the best options for implementing James Dilworth’s aspirations for current and future students as expressed in his trust and will.

12. Develop a policy document registry

That the Dilworth Trust Board develop a central registry of all policy documents by category.

13. Maintain complete student file records and retain them indefinitely

That the Dilworth Trust Board ensures school records of students, in addition to academic, cultural and sporting achievements, include all relevant aspects of a student’s life at the school, such as those relating to student health and welfare, activities, complaints, discipline and behavioural concerns, in both boarding houses and day school.

14. Retain and archive staff disciplinary files relating to sexual abuse and serious physical abuse indefinitely

That the Dilworth Trust Board includes all investigation materials relating to staff disciplinary matters on staff files with a reference, where relevant, to the existence of this file on the student’s file, and retained there securely indefinitely.

15. Maintain sufficient high-quality boarding house staff

That the Dilworth Trust Board provides both adequate staffing, and the best quality staff for boarding houses.

16. Engage quality teaching staff

That:

(a) The Dilworth Trust Board engages the best quality teaching staff available and provide full continuing training and support for them.

(b) The Dilworth Trust Board provides adequate support for teaching staff and students engaged in individual tuition.

17. Review and enhance pastoral support

That the Dilworth Trust Board reviews and enhances pastoral support and, in particular, provides additional support to current students and staff in wake of this report’s publication.

18. Develop a trusting and cooperative relationship with police

That the Dilworth Trust Board, as a priority, develops a trusting and cooperative relationship with New Zealand Police and continues to refer immediately any instances of sexual misconduct to police for investigation and co-operate promptly in providing information police seek.

19. Develop an effective working relationship with the Anglican Church

That the Dilworth Trust Board develop an effective working relationship with the Anglican Church to ensure chaplains employed by Dilworth have their performance properly reviewed and any concerns are immediately passed onto the other party and actioned effectively and swiftly.