Teacher sex ban: Itâs more moral panic than sensible policy
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May 19, 2021 â 5.30am
May 19, 2021 â 5.30am
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When I attended high school, male teachers routinely tutored female students in rooms with closed doors. This was the â80s.
The Police sang
Donât Stand So Close to Me, about a schoolgirl with a crush and a teacher trying to resist temptation. Prior to graduation, a friend and I elaborately fantasised about how she might seduce her religious studies teacher, who was unusually attractive for a religious studies teacher and blessedly aloof.
Top scientists question basis for Victoriaâs baby shaking prosecutions
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Top Victorian pathologists have raised doubts about the scientific evidence relied on to jail a number of men for shaking babies to death, raising serious questions about whether their convictions were sound.
Three men jailed in Victoria since 2018 for child homicide or recklessly causing serious injury have launched or are about to launch appeals that challenge the basis of shaken baby syndrome, a collection of three injuries said to point to abuse as the cause of harm to infants in their care. The existence of the syndrome has been called into question globally but remains widely accepted by Victorian police, forensic specialists and child abuse experts.
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Victorian teachers will be banned from having sex with former students for at least two years after the students finish their secondary education, under a shake-up of rules governing teacher behaviour.
The new rules, which will come into force next term, will apply to more than 135,000 registered teachers across the state, and those caught breaching them could be struck off.
A code of conduct review raised concerns over teachers grooming students during their final years of school.
Credit:Eamon Gallagher
The ban is included in a new code of conduct created by professional regulator the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
Not like CSI: How pathologists really rebuild lives after death
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We all remember our sliding-door moments, but few can match David Ransonâs. He was cutting into a body when the chap next to him made a suggestion that would change his life.
He was elbow-deep in an autopsy as part of his final forensic pathology exams in London. The postgraduate student working on the next table was Dr Charles Naylor, who was about to move to Brisbane (he is now Queenslandâs Chief Pathologist).
The reforms needed for aged care will take time to implement. Aged care needs better long-term resourcing, not just one big year of increased funding. While we do need a cash injection upfront to make up lost ground and ensure all providers are achieving the basic minimum standards of care, the long-term plan is the most important.
We should look at the budget to see whether it indicates a thoughtful, transparent approach to planning for a better aged care system. It is more important to consider where and how the funding is allocated, not just how much.
So, do we really want a government to be spending money when it has not even finished thinking through the strategic plan for reform? No matter what happens on budget night, remember, the official government response to the royal commission is due on 31 May â three weeks after the budget is delivered. True change will only occur if the community holds governments accountable.