The head of Scouts Australia has issued a “genuine and heartfelt” apology on behalf of the organisation in the wake of the child abuse royal commission.

In a video posted on its website on Friday, Chief Commissioner Phil Harrison said the apology was being made on behalf of all state and territory scout branches of the 110-year-old movement.

“We apologise unreservedly to those who suffered abuse during their time in scouting,” he said.

“We failed you and we apologise for the pain that this has caused.
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“Scouts Australia has a responsibility to survivors of abuse and we will honour that.”

He said the apology was a “genuine and heartfelt admission that, for some young people, their time in Scouting was a negative experience”.

“For this, we are truly sorry,” he said.

The apology is part of Scouts Australia’s commitment to acknowledge and address the harm some members suffered and comes in the wake of the child abuse royal commission.

Commissioner Harrison said senior Scouts members had met with survivors around Australia and made personal apologies.

Scouts Australia has signed on to a national redress scheme, to compensate and make amends to survivors, that came into force on July 1.

“We are willing to meet with anyone else who wishes to meet with us,” he added.

“We apologise for not listening when some of you shared your stories with adults in Scouting who you trusted.”

Apology ‘too little too late’

Abuse survivors’ support group Blue Knot Foundation president Dr Cathy Kezelman said Scouts Australia was one of the institutions acknowledging the harm done, noting it had committed to updating its child safety and protection policies.

She said the move was significant before the October 22 national apology to people sexually abused as children in Australian institutions, but it would not mend the harm done to all survivors.

“For some survivors apologies are meaningful. For others, it’s too little, too late,” she said.

Legal firm Maurice Blackburn said the “hollow” apology was not being matched by genuine action, criticising Scouts NSW in particular for taking an aggressive approach towards survivors seeking compensation through the courts.

“Apologies are nice and today’s apology from Scouts Australia is no doubt well meaning, but apologies are meaningless if they are not matched by action,” its NSW head of abuse law Danielle De Paoli said.

On its website, Scouts Australia said it believed the royal commission, held from 2012 to 2017, had been “an important step” in making the community safer for children.

Of the 408 people who told the royal commission during private sessions about child sexual abuse in sport and recreation settings, more than one-third were abused by a youth group leader who were mostly scout leaders.

Scouts currently has about 70,000 members in Australia, about 50,000 of whom are youth members.

Commissioner Harrison said Scouts Australia has contributed to the development of more than two million young Australians.

“However, for some of you this was not a positive experience and you have suffered.”

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-with AAP