Jim Goodwin: Abuse survivor on the Government's apology, reparations for abuse-in-care survivors

Survivors are hoping the Government won’t stuff it up when it comes to the abuse-in-care reparations. 

Abuse survivor Jim Goodwin says the Government's apology is a huge moment for many people. 

But, he told Ryan Bridge, today's words will need to be followed through with actions. 

Goodwin says he's worried about how the Government will provide support for survivors and what they'll do to prevent future abuse-in-care. 

He says that compensation is important but it’s only part of what survivors need.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The government's national apology to victims of abuse in state
care will take place today. It comes along with a
bill with a raft of new changes for protecting people
that are currently in state care, which will pass its
first reading today. It'll ban strip searches of children and
youth justice facilities. It'll create harsher restrictions for people working
with kids, and enforce better record keeping by government agencies,

(00:23):
which has been a key theme or a failure, I
should say, of those who've submitted on the Royal Commission.
Jim Goodwin is an abuse survivor. He's with us this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Jim, good morning, Good morning, Ron, thank you for being
with me. How are you feeling today?

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Ah? Nervous, really thinking about it? Yeah, this is a
huge thing for a huge number of people. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Why nervous?

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Ah? I hope they don't stuff it up. The potential
for a government to make yet more mistakes around survivors
and around care is massive.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Stuff up the apology or stuff up now do you
know the ones who are currently in care?

Speaker 3 (01:16):
They won't stuff up the apology. That will be well done,
I think. But continuing to provide, how will they provide
support for survivors and what will they do about preventing
abuse and care in the future. That's what I'm worried about.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
The compensation issued.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
There's been some criticism that they haven't got that sorted
before the apology. Does that bother you or are you
more worried about them doing it right when they do it.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Compensation is important, but it's only part of what survivors need.
Survivors need to be able to access ongoing support, like counseling,
support for their lives, and that's quite difficult for a
lot of survivors at the moment. So I hope that

(02:05):
the government will change that, but conversation is only a
part of it.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, that's fair enough.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
For those who have been abused in state care or
in faith based institutions, in a school, stuff like that,
who have then gone on to offend. What is your
view on that, because the society is grappling with this
question right about somebody who's been abused It was nothing
to do with their not their fault. They were placed

(02:32):
in a situation and they go on to offend. Do
they get should they get more leniency? Would you have
a view on that?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
It's offending. Abuse is a factor in offending. Maybe some
people should get leniency. Unfortunately, the bad people also claim
that they have had a terrible life and that's why
they've offended. What would be better is to people who
have been abused with support. And I'm thinking I mentioned

(03:05):
counseling before, and that will reduce the risk of offending.
I treated its source.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Not at the other end, what about boot camps that
you don't know?

Speaker 3 (03:16):
A terrible idea, terrible idea never worked, will never work
based on a false premise that you can knock people
into shape, A really bad idea.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
What do we do with these kids then?

Speaker 3 (03:29):
If possible, well, if possible, we should work prodigiously to
keep them at home. Even if their home is pretty wonky,
it's still the home. It's what they know. So you
work to support their faros, support the people who care
about them, and try to keep people at home. Institutions

(03:50):
should be an absolute last resort.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Your abuse took place at christ College back in the
nineteen seventies, and it was from other students. Yeah, what
do you want to say to the people who abused you?

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Ah, they know who they are, they know what they did. Yeah,
they can live with it. Jim, I've gone, I've gone
on and lived my life.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Jim. Jim, thank you very much for your time this morning.
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Okay, all rank you, Jim Goodwin, their abuse survivor the
apology happening at Parliament this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
to News Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio