Former federal politician and Daruk Training School superintendent Alasdair Webster was arrested and charged with a string of child abuse offences in 2020.
Webster oversaw Daruk, a training school for vulnerable young males, between 1973 and 1984, and several of his former subordinates have already been charged and/or convicted for child abuse offences committed during his tenure.
Webster first came under public scrutiny in 2018, when a 60 Minutes investigation revealed numerous allegations that Webster had ignored complaints of sexual abuse within Daruk, with some residents even being punished for speaking out about abuse by Daruk officers.
Within 2 years Webster himself was charged with serious offences against children in his care at Daruk, which now include 20 charges of buggery, indecent assault and assault occasioning bodily harm. Some of these offences have been considered ‘too graphic to publish’ by the mainstream media.
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Webster has pled not guilty to the charges. When the charges were laid, he sought to have his name suppressed and the details of the case kept secret, arguing that the publicity exacerbated his heart problems. In 2024, he again raised his health conditions, arguing this time that his condition was such that a criminal trial against him would be too unfair, and should be abandoned. The court rejected this argument.
Webster was far from the only offender at Daruk Training School. Other officers that have been either charged or convicted of child abuse offences, or else died before charges could be made, include; Christiaan Beullens , Robert Barracluff, William Wright, Frank Valentine, Peter Henry, John Munger and Laurie Maher.
Kelso Lawyers has represented numerous survivors of these individuals, along with survivors of countless other offenders both in Daruk and other NSW institutions. We are committed to holding the NSW Government to account for the atrocities committed on their watch, and to seeking justice for the many victims that are yet to come forward.
