Statement on the independent review of ACHPER Victoria’s operations and culture
Attributable to Peter Wright, Chair of the Board, ACHPER Victoria
Earlier this year, ACHPER Victoria produced a sample assessment that contained factually incorrect information about a context in Israel.
We acknowledge ACHPER Victoria made a serious mistake that has hurt members of the Jewish community. The organisation takes full responsibility for this. We have, and continue to, apologise unreservedly.
We cannot change what has happened, but we have taken a range of corrective actions so this does not happen again.
To understand how this happened and how to address it, the ACHPER Victoria board commissioned an independent review.
To chair the review, the board appointed respected businessman, Mr Peter Lewinsky. In addition to holding board positions with Ambulance Victoria, the Australian Red Cross Society, and Tasmanian Water & Sewerage Corporation, Mr Lewinsky chairs the boards of TAL Superannuation and Holmesglen Institute of TAFE. He is a governance advisor to the state government and chair of the Risk and Audit Committee of the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning. He is also a member of Victoria’s Jewish community.
The board appointed HLB Mann Judd to design and undertake the review. HLB Mann Judd are a respected consulting firm with extensive education sector experience, including experience working on complex issues for the State Government of Victoria.
The independent review found this incident was the result of inadequate research and ineffective quality controls.
Specifically, the writer sourced material not sufficiently checked for accuracy despite this being a requirement of the role; in addition, the quality control process in place at the time failed to identify or address this.
The review concludes this mistake was not a result of systemic or deliberate anti-Semitism, or any other cultural bias, within the organisation or among its leadership.
The ACHPER Victoria board has endorsed all the review’s findings and recommendations.
ACHPER Victoria CEO, Hilary Shelton, has acted on the recommendations immediately.
In response to the review, ACHPER Victoria has:
- Terminated the contract with the product’s writer
- Engaged a quality control specialist to perform final reviews of all products prior to publication
- Re-inducted its staff, emphasising the requirements for factual accuracy and substantiated references in development of its education products, and;
- Conducted internal training to reinforce the organisation’s values and code of conduct, and to embed these in the actions and decisions of every staff member or contractor.
ACHPER Victoria has taken this issue seriously since it was first alerted to it via the media.
Our CEO, Hilary Shelton, immediately contacted the people concerned to listen to and understand the full nature of their concerns while also communicating ACHPER Victoria’s regret, and that it would investigate the issue.
From that point forward, ACHPER Victoria has tried to respond thoughtfully, cautiously and sensitively to the concerns this has raised. We have sought advice from key stakeholders and spared no time or expense in seeking to achieve an outcome acceptable to all.
ACHPER Victoria:
- Immediately recalled and reissued the product
- Contacted leaders of Australia’s Jewish community and every Jewish school among its customers to open channels of communication and hear their concerns
- Engaged stakeholders in the Department of Education and Training
- Made a public statement of apology
- Commissioned an independent review
- Managed the interests of action groups
- Consulted in detail with representatives among Victoria’s Jewish community, and;
- Shared learnings with the network of ACHPER affiliates across Australia, and our members in Victoria.
We are emerging from this period a stronger organisation with stronger editorial controls, and a team of expert staff who are highly aware of the social and political context in which we work.
ACHPER Victoria remains deeply sorry that this incident occurred.
It is not consistent with our values, our 70-year history of committed service to the Victorian education community and the respect we have earned across the education sector.
We have worked continuously since becoming aware of this issue to comprehensively consult, investigate, respond and address the cause, and to make amends. This has taken us substantial time and investment. It reflects our determination to genuinely address the cause, to do better, and to ensure this does not happen again.
The cover letter from the review’s independent chair, Mr Peter Lewinsky, can be read here >>
The report from the independent review can be read here >>