Dion Barber: Labor MP Don Punch’s role in sending child sex abuse victim back to predator laid bare by judge

A WA judge has described a policy that sent a boy back into the hands of a sex predator — an act recommended at the time by Cook Government Minister Don Punch — as “startling and incomprehensible.” In a landmark decision handed down on Tuesday, District Court Judge Linda Black awarded the now 45-year-old survivor Dion Barber $2.85 million in damages for years of horrific abuse he suffered under State guardianship. And in her judgment published on Wednesday, Judge Black was scathing in her assessment of the decision made by the Department for Community Services to send him back to his abusive stepfather. After social worker Kris Csillag had the boy declared a ward of the State in 1988, he and then acting supervisor Don Punch, now Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, met with the stepfather, Mr Barber’s mother and his maternal grandmother at an initial case conference. It was at that meeting Ms Csillag and Mr Punch decided the boy should be returned to the family home — where the man continued his horrific crimes — and they were all made to undergo counselling together. The decision came just a few weeks after a South West magistrate upheld the child’s allegations, finding the man had indeed sexually abused him and needed to be removed, Judge Black said. “Mr Csillag testified that the long-term goal he and Mr Punch agreed to, was for family reunification,” the judge said. It was a departmental priority and seemed to have weighed heavily on Mr Csillag’s mind, she said. At trial earlier this year — where the State argued there was “a limit to the degree of supervision” the department could provide — Mr Csillag indicated that the family had wanted to be back together. He and Mr Punch then recommended to the then Director General Des Semple that reunification be done in a “structured therapeutic way,” Judge Black said. “At trial, this disturbing decision-making process was sought to be justified by the suggestion of a developing understanding of the nature and effect of child sexual abuse between the late 1980s and today, both by child protection workers and police.” But even allowing for the benefit of hindsight and better understanding, “the approach recommended by the Department and adopted” by the then DG was “startling and incomprehensible.” “It is clear that ‘red flags’ were either missed, ignored or given less weight by the Department than they should have been in order to advance the family reunification goal,” Judge Black said. Judge Black said Mr Csillag was a junior worker and the decisions made “were not his to make.” The ultimate responsibility lay with the DG, who had to be satisfied with the department’s recommendations “and not simply adopt them without thought.” “The DG remained the guardian and accordingly, all of these decisions were his,” she said. The State argued that even if the Director General was negligent and breached a duty owed to Mr Barber, it would not be vicariously liable given that he, through the department and its employees, were at all material times acting in good faith. But all of the State’s arguments in defence failed. Mr Punch was not required to testify at trial and declined to comment on the judgment. Mr Barber was sexually abused by others during placements by the State, including by his maternal grandparents and biological father. His lawyer Hugo Seymour of Maurice Blackburn said Mr Barber’s achievement was remarkable. “He has finally been believed, and that means more to him than his award,” Mr Seymour told The West Australian. “He is already being a voice for other survivors of abuse in State care. “Unfortunately, the handling of Dion’s case by the Department and the State insurer has been shameful. “The department argued throughout the trial they could not be held responsible for sending Dion back to his abuser. There must be an investigation into how this occurred. “Dion deserves an apology, and survivors deserve change.” Just over a year ago, the State rejected an offer by Mr Barber to settle for $1.2m. Mr Punch worked for the department between 1981 and 1996, and was elected as the Member for Bunbury in 2017 when Labor seized power with a historic election landslide. He was elevated to the Ministry in 2021.