Figure

1: The Reflection Seat. Photo taken by

Siobhan Quinane 29 August 2016.

A Seat of Reflection
By Siobhan Quinane

The Reflection Seat was erected on
Eastern Beach in Geelong in 2014.
The seat was created as a place of
reflection for victims who were
sexually abused in Geelong
orphanages. The reflection seat is
more important than just a seat. This
reflection seat is public
acknowledgment of the pain these
victims still face today. It creates
awareness in the community of our
darker history. Artist Jacinta Leitch
sculptured this work of art. It is a
reflection for all in the Geelong
community.

The Seat Itself

The City of Greater Geelong and Care
Leavers Australia Network
commissioned the seat. The couch
seat is created out of Limestone and
sculptured by local artist Jacinta
Leitch in 2014. The seat is
comfortable and situated in the
perfect location in Geelong to relax
and reflect on the past.

This memorial is highly significant
because it is peaceful and has been
created for the victims as a seat of
reflection where hopefully they find
some healing. It is situated between
Eastern Beach and Limeburners
Point away from the crowds in a
peaceful pocket with calming views.
As you sit on this peaceful seat, you
hear the soft waves close by.

Figure 2: Views from the Reflection Seat.

Photo taken by Siobhan Quinane 29 August
2015.

According to Care Leavers
Australian Network Executive
Leonie Sheedy says, It gives people
a chance to sit and reflect quietly
without the buzz of the city and we
need our history visible.1 Geelong
Councillor Tony Ansett said the
search for the right location and
form of remembrance had taken
several years. He comments,
Though places of much sadness and
pain, the 13 orphanages in the
Geelong district are an important
part of our cultural heritage and
need to be remembered.2
Therefore, the seat is a symbol of
remembrance and reflection.

Care Leavers Australia Network
dealing with the past

According to figure 3, it is a plaque
placed on the Reflection Seat, it
states, This Public Art commission
has been
developed in
partnership with
Care Leavers
Australia
Network. It
serves to create
a place of quiet
reflection for all,
and in particular
the thousands of
children placed
in Orphanages
and Childrens
Homes
throughout the

Figure 3: Plaque. Photo taken by Siobhan Quinane 29
August 2016.

City of Greater Geelong. This clear

statement on the reflection seat
outlines the reason it was created
for all in the Geelong community.

Care Leavers Australia Networks
objective is to raise community
awareness of our issues, and to
campaign for government assistance
to redress them.3 This is why Care
Leavers Australia Network has been
partnered with the commission of
the Reflection Seat in Geelong for
community awareness.

Close to half a million children in
Australia in the 20th century were
brought up in 'care', foster care,
raised in orphanages, Children's
Homes, and other institutions. Many
of these people are now middle-aged
or older but still carry the burden of
unresolved issues from this past.4
The Reflection Seat does not solve all
ongoing personal issues but was
created in 2014 as a place to reflect
and find some healing.

Orphanages in Geelong

Imagine growing up completely
helpless with no support or family
and no one to speak to. It was
horrible for victims who grew up in
Geelong orphanages who were
sexually abused as children. Many
victims face ongoing psychologically
problems today.

There were 13 Orphanages in
Geelong. Two examples are St.
Augustines Boys Orphanage, which
was established in 1857-1966,5 and
St. Catherines Girls Orphanage
1862-1975.6

Figure 4: St Catherines Girls Orphanage

1862-1975.

The living conditions were harsh and

they slept in dormitories. They had
no family and were looked after by
the state. There was lack of
nurturing at these institutions.
These children were vulnerable and
helpless. They suffered physical,
psychological and sexual abuse in
these institutions. There are specific
cases in the Royal Commission into
Child Sexual Abuse reports that
started in 2014 that detail the awful
reality of life in the Orphanages.

This image of the dormitory rooms
below gives insight into the harsh
conditions they were living it at
orphanages.

operating. This handwritten extract

exacerbates that complaints were
not taking seriously within the
orphanages.

Below is a transcribed version of this
handwritten document. It writes:
Brother Edna denied emphatically
that there was anything immoral in
his dealings with the boys in Hobart.
He admitted having kissed and
tickled some boys, but did nothing
immodest or indecent. When spoken
to on this subject he appeared
greatly distressed. Father Murphy
told him he stood very high in his
estimation, and that there was
nothing whatsoever against his
character.

This document is an early example
the orphanage or the Catholic
Church did not handle these
complaints properly. No one
believed the boys and the system
protected the Brothers.

Figure 5: Orphanage Dormitories.

Figure 6: Title of Handwritten Report 1930

St. Augustines Orphanage Geelong

November 1930

This hand written document is a
visitation report sourced from the
Royal Commission. It is dated
November 1930 at St Augustines
Orphanage Geelong. A visitation
report is where someone analyses
and monitors how the orphanage is

Figure 7: Contents of Handwritten Report 1930

Recent County Court Trial

In a Country Court Trial Fifty years
after William Stuart Houston preyed
on six vulnerable boys at the St
Augustines Orphanage, has been
jailed for 12 years and nine
months.7 Judge Kidd stated,
tragically the complaints or partial
complaints of three of your victims
were variously met with denials and
physical punishment by other staff
members at the orphanage.8 This
statement from Judge Kidd
reiterates that children were not
able to make complaints in these
institutions and were sometimes
faced with physical punishment by
other staff members.

Often, many of the victims who are
speaking up today have ongoing
personal, psychological, relationship
and sometimes substance abuse
problems.

Royal Commission into Child Sexual
Abuse

Figure 8: Royal Commission into Institutional

Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Child sexual abuse is a topical issue
today as The Royal Commission into
Sexual Abuse in 2014 has uncovered
many stories across Victoria that are
being heard for the first time. The
history of this abuse is only coming
out recently. Orphan victims from
Geelong from the 1960s are now
standing up and stating what
happened in victim statements. This
history is very hard for the victims to

re-tell and only now are they able to

state what happened and try and
receive justice.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard
announced the establishment of the
Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.9
Julia Gillard told reporters in
Canberra in 2012, The allegations
that have come to light about child
sexual abuse have been
heartbreaking.10 The stories are
tragic, painful and ongoing for the
individual victims.

Julia Gillard also comments,
Theyve not only had their trust
betrayed by the abuser but other
adults who could have acted to assist
them have failed to do so.11 The
children were helpless and
unprotected. These children had no
rights and were not able to issue
complaints successfully at the time.
They were not protected and have
suffered immensely due to these
experiences of neglect and physical
and sexual abuse.

Only recently are these stories being
heard and acted on. The formation of
the Reflection Seat is a direct result
of these uncovering stories. Geelong
is acknowledging its dark past, and
tyring to create a peaceful symbol
for victims and also members of the
community to reflect.

The focus on orphanage victims
throughout the Royal Commission is
significantly important, as these
victims were the most vulnerable in
society. Judge Kidd states, It was
virtually impossible for a child in
those circumstances to come
forward and pursue a complaint.12
Often, their complaints were never
heard or taken seriously as it was

the perpetrators who were the ones

looking after them. They had no one
to talk to and act on their situation.

From an article in 2011, Alex Devic
states, victims of sexual abuse and
physical torture at a Geelong
orphanage have launched legal
action against the State Government
seeking millions of dollars in
compensation.13 The class action
involved 14 male victims who were
aged between 10 and 14 who were
abused at St. Augustines Orphanage
in Geelong during the 1960s.

According to a journal article from
2014, The Australian Governments
decision to initiate a royal
commission symbolically signals the
seriousness of the problem of
children being sexual abused within
institutions.14

Memorials are changing

Paul Ashton, Paula Hamilton and
Rose Searby, in Places of the Heart:
Memorials in Australia explore how
memorials have changed in Australia
since the 1960s. There has been a
shift from war memorials, and now
there are memorials for individual
deaths including car accidents,
animals, disease and community
work. According to Places of the
Heart, Memorials are markers of
the past. They can have multiple
meanings that can change over time
and they can provoke great
emotion.15 Memorials are a place of
reflection for many individuals in the
community. They are personal and
create emotion. The Reflection Seat
in Geelong is particularly important.
It is created in a peaceful natural
environment for victims of sexual
abuse from Geelong orphanages to

reflect, but also for other members

in the community to reflect.

There has been a surge of roadside
memorials, particularly in the 21st
century. According to Places of the
Heart, Roadside memorials anchor
the present in the past, empowering
people and entangling the private
and the public.16 This can be
applied to the meaning behind the
reflection seat. It was erected for
public acknowledgment for victims
whose private stories were often not
heard until recently with the Royal
Commission into Child Sexual Abuse
in 2014.

Focusing on the recent memorial of
the Reflection Seat in Geelong, The
Reflection Seat is only the third
dedicated public memorial in any
Australian regional city or town to
children placed in institutionalised
care. The only other memorials are
in NSW-in Goulburn and Kiama.17
The Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse uncovered many
stories for the first time. We are now
seeing acknowledgment towards the
victims made by the community. An
example to create awareness of
these atrocities that occurred in
Geelong orphanages in a peaceful
way is the Reflection Seat in Geelong.

At the launch of the Reflection Seat,
Councillor Richards stated,
The commissioned artwork may
promote deeper empathy, while also
posing questions for people who
have been unaware of the legacy of
19th and 20th century orphanages.18
The Reflection Seat creates
community awareness. It is situated
in a peaceful spot where all you can
hear is nature. It is quiet, and there
is sadness as you reflect on how

awful it must have been for the

victims who were placed in these
orphanages in the 19th and 20th
century.

Healing

The reason why this reflection seat
is so significant is that is recognises
victims and hopefully they are able
to find some peace and reflection
sitting there.

There are many reasons why these
victims stories were tragic. Other
adults or the State did not protect
them. The children were neglected
and grew up in a world without love
and nurturing. The pain they must
have faced doing victim impact
statements under the Royal
Commission would have exposed
painful memories. Hopefully some
justice can be served for these
victims. The erection of the
Reflection Seat is community
acknowledgment and awareness
that the treatment towards those

Individuals in the orphanages were

traumatic and dreadful.

Other members in the community
are able to reflect and learn about
these tragic stories that took place in
Geelong Orphanages.

This memorial is for healing,
awareness and reflection.

Figure 9: Photo of the Reflection Seat. Taken by

Siobhan Quinane on 29 August 2016.

Endnotes

1 Cameron Best, Couch with a view to
reflect on life in Geelong Orphanages, ABC,
9 Feb. 2015.
2 Ibid.
3 What CLAN Does, Care Leavers
Australasia Network [website], (2016)
<http://www.clan.org.au/about/> para.7,
accessed 17 October 2016.
4 Ibid.
5 St Augustines Orphanage-Geelong
Victoria, MacKillop Family Services
2 Ibid.
[website],
<https://www.mackillop.org.au/st3 What CLAN Does, Care Leavers
augustines> para .1, accessed 6 September
Australasia Network [website], (2016)
2016.

<http://www.clan.org.au/about/> para.7,
6 St Catherines Girls Orphanage-Geelong,
accessed 17 October 2016.
Victoria, MacKillop Family Services
4 Ibid.
[website], <
5 St Augustines Orphanage-Geelong
Victoria, MacKillop Family Services
[website],
<https://www.mackillop.org.au/staugustines> para .1, accessed 6 September
2016.
6 St Catherines Girls Orphanage-Geelong,
Victoria, MacKillop Family Services
[website], <
https://www.mackillop.org.au/stcatherines> para.2, accessed 6 September
2016.
7 Former Christian Brother Jailed for Abuse
of Six Boys at Geelong Orphanage, ABC
News, 17 May 2016, in ABC News [online
database], accessed 6 September 2016.
8 Ibid.
9 Shurlee Swain, History of inquiries
reviewing institutions providing care for
children, Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual
Abuse (Sydney, 2014).
10 Simon Cullen, Gillard launches Royal
Commission into Child Abuse, ABC News,
12 November 2012, in ABC News [online
database], accessed 17 October 2016.
11 Ibid.
12 Former Christian Brother Jailed for
Abuse of Six Boys at Geelong Orphanage,
ABC News, 17 May 2016, in ABC News
[online database], accessed 6 September
2016.
13 Aleks Devic, Orphanage abuse victims
sue, Geelong Advertiser, 27 July 2011.
14 William Budiselik, Frances Crawford and
Donna Chung, The Australian Royal

Commission into Institutional Response to
Child Sexual Abuse: Dreaming of Child Safe
Organisations?, Social Sciences Journal, 3/3
(2013).
15 Paul Ashton, Paula Hamilton and Rose
Searby, Places of the Heart: Memorials in
Australia (North Melbourne, VIC: Australian
Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd. 2012).
16 Ibid. p.67
17 Public memorial for people from Geelong
Orphanages City of Greater Geelong
[website], (2015)
<http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/new
s/item/8d20f7d80c25fd9.aspx> para.5,
accessed 17 October 2016.
18 Ibid.

Images

Figure 1: Author took photo. Taken 29

August 2016.

Figure 2: Author took photo. Taken 29
August 2016.

Figure 3: Author took photo. Taken 29
August 2016.

Figure 4: Image of St. Catherines Girls
Orphanage cited in
<https://www.mackillop.org.au/stcatherines>

Figure 5: Orphanage Dormitories cited in
<https://www.mackillop.org.au/heritagematerial>

Figure 6: (exhibit id: 28-0151, title:
visitation report of st. augustines
orphanage geelong, document id:
ctjh.056.35027.0002, tender by: gail furness
sc, date tendered: 2016-03-09, hearing day:
n/a, jurisdiction: commonwealth, witness:
n/a) accessed through Royal Commission
website:
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.go
v.au/search?searchtext=Primary+Source%3
a+Visitation+Report+of+St.+Augustine%E2
%80%99s+Orphanage+Geelong&searchmo
de=anyword

Figure 7: Ibid.

Figure 8: Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual
Abuse cited in


<http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.g
ov.au/>

Figure 9: Author took photo. Taken 29
August 2016.

Bibliography

Ashton, Paul, Hamilton, Paula and Searby,
Rose, Places of the Heart: Memorials in
Australia (North Melbourne, VIC: Australian
Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd. 2012).

Best, Cameron, Couch with a view to reflect

on life in Geelong Orphanages, ABC, 9 Feb.
2015.

Budiselik, Williamm Crawford, France, and

Chung, Donna, The Australian Royal
Commission into Institutional Response to
Child Sexual Abuse: Dreaming of Child Safe
Organisations?, Social Sciences Journal, 3/3
(2013).

Former Christian Brother Jailed for Abuse
of Six Boys at Geelong Orphanage, ABC
News, 17 May 2016, in ABC News [online
database], accessed 6 September 2016.

Public memorial for people from Geelong

Orphanages City of Greater Geelong
[website], (2015)
<http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/new
s/item/8d20f7d80c25fd9.aspx> para.5,
accessed 17 October 2016.

(exhibit id: 28-0151, title: visitation report
of st. augustines orphanage geelong,
document id: ctjh.056.35027.0002, tender
by: gail furness sc, date tendered: 2016-0309, hearing day: n/a, jurisdiction:
commonwealth, witness: n/a) accessed
through Royal Commission website:
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.go
v.au/search?searchtext=Primary+Source%3
a+Visitation+Report+of+St.+Augustine%E2
%80%99s+Orphanage+Geelong&searchmo
de=anyword

Cullen, Simon, Gillard launches Royal

Commission into Child Abuse, ABC News,
12 November 2012, in ABC News [online
database], accessed 17 October 2016.

Devic, Aleks, Orphanage abuse victims sue,
Geelong Advertiser, 27 July 2011.

Swain, S, History of inquiries reviewing

institutions providing care for children, Royal
Commission into Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse (Sydney, 2014).

St Augustines Orphanage-Geelong Victoria,
MacKillop Family Services [website],
<https://www.mackillop.org.au/staugustines> para.1, accessed 6 September
2016.

St Catherines Girls Orphanage-Geelong,
Victoria, MacKillop Family Services
[website], <
https://www.mackillop.org.au/stcatherines> para.2, accessed 6 September
2016.

What CLAN Does, Care Leavers Australasia
Network [website], (2016)
<http://www.clan.org.au/about/> para.7,
accessed 17 October 2016.