A boy who was made a ward of state was repeatedly returned to a residential home where he was being sexually assaulted by an older boy, a national inquiry has been told.
The boy, given the pseudonym Norris, was placed in the secure facility for children in 2014 and ran away several times, a royal commission inquiring into the current arrangements for children at risk heard on Monday.
The boy's mother (known as Monica) said no one at the facility ever talked to her son about why he ran away, said Gail Furness, SC, advising the commission.
"The assumption was he wanted to go back to his mother."
Ms Furness said eventually Norris told his mother an older boy had sexually abused him but the authorities dismissed his allegations until the other boy confessed.
It was then the department acknowledged that something had happened and started providing counselling to Norris, Ms Furness said.
Monica's story was told to the royal commission in a private session as a prelude to a hearing on Monday at which representatives of government and non-government agencies are giving evidence on current reporting policies for child sexual abuse in foster care, kinship care or small group residential care facilities.
"Monica feels extremely low and disgusted in herself for not being able to protect her son and agreeing to send Norris back to the place where he was abused," Ms Furness said.
On Monday Ms Furness also read an account of a successful handling of a complex child abuse case where three children aged between four and nine displayed sexualised behaviour towards each other.
A care team was established and police and the children's court were involved. The process led to the stepfather being prevented from having access and ongoing therapeutic help for the children.
