A draft of the report, obtained yesterday by The Australian, was commissioned by the department to review its health and safety service unit. The report by KPMG was prepared in February, eight months before the premier's office was drawn into the alleged cover-up of the rape of an eight-year-old girl by a man who ran an out-of-school hours care program at a government school.
When it emerged last month that Premier Jay Weatherill's closest advisers were told about the rape in December 2010, Education Minister Grace Portolesi commissioned former Supreme Court judge Bruce Debelle to inquire into why parents were kept in the dark for two years.
Ms Portolesi has told parliament the Debelle inquiry could probe the actions of her chief of staff Jadynne Harvey, the Premier's chief of staff Simon Blewett and media adviser Bronwyn Hurrell in allegedly covering up the case.
Mr Harvey, an adviser to Mr Weatherill when he was education minister, has maintained his silence over his role.
Police have rejected a claim by Ms Portolesi that they advised against telling parents.
Mr Weatherill claims he was not told, but his position on what he and key advisers knew of the case has changed several times.
A culture of covering-up such incidents is revealed in the KPMG draft report under the section dealing with incident and hazard reporting. "There is a culture in DECD (the Education Department) which doesn't encourage reporting," the report says.
"There was a perception among those interviewed that there is an effort to protect reputation of schools, to suppress bad news, injuries and behaviours at site level. Incidents don't get reported to head office and police as often as they should.
"There is a feeling the incidence of violence is increasing, regardless of the overall statistics, as they tend to be managed by sites and not necessarily reported."
The report says "most" school leaders have "piles of incidents" that require entering into the system, but they had not had time to do so.
There was lack of clarity over responsibility once the incident was logged, the report says, and there was no case management of an issue.
"Incidents logged with Health and Safety services are not appropriately reviewed or classified," the report finds.
Opposition education spokesman David Pisoni said that it was not surprising the report had identified a "culture of cover-up" within schools given the lack of leadership by the Weatherill government.
"The behaviour and changing stories of the Premier, the minister and their closest advisers in the case of a child-rape at a government school two years ago shows a culture of cover-up has been driven by those at the top for a long time," he said.
Education advocate Graeden Horsell yesterday urged the government to work to restore public confidence.
Mr Weatherill told radio FIVEaa that the Debelle inquiry "will hold people to account".
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