A child sexual abuse survivor has expressed her disdain for Tasmania's school system and felt "palmed off" when repeated requests for a meeting with the state's education minister were knocked back.
The woman, who AAP has chosen not to name, gave evidence on Tuesday at the commission of inquiry into state government responses to allegations of abuse in public institutions.
She told the inquiry she had been abused in high school by a male teacher in the 1990s.
The woman made disclosures about the abuse to police as an adult and decided several years ago to "keep going up the ladder".
She said she wrote 16 letters in 16 weeks requesting an audience with then-education minister Jeremy Rockliff, who last month became premier.
She told the inquiry the request was declined because it related to "criminal matters". She was instead offered a meeting with a department deputy secretary, which she accepted.
"It was not the person I wanted to speak with. I wanted to speak with whoever was ultimately responsible," she said.
"I felt that I was palmed off to someone else to shut me up."
The state Liberal government called the commission of inquiry in November 2020 in response to child abuse allegations made against a nurse and other public servants.
The woman said no one from the government had reached out to her, describing their pledge to address abuse and support survivors as "hollow".
"I don't know what survivors they're reaching out to ... but I'm certainly not one of them."
In a statement, Mr Rockliff said he was unable to meet with the woman due to ongoing criminal justice processes.
"I instead arranged the department of education deputy secretary to meet with (her) to discuss any concerns and provide a full apology," he said.
"My last correspondence ... was a thank you letter following this meeting."
The woman told the inquiry she was groomed by the teacher and abused at school and his home.
She was sat down by another teacher in the school library and told it had been noticed she was spending a lot of time with her abuser and it was "not normal".
"I feared so much what was going to happen to me. I felt that it was all my fault. I didn't know what to do," she said.
She ran from the library in tears, and said no teacher ever followed up.
"At a later point in time it was told to me (the teacher) was approached and he was told to 'watch himself'. That was it."
She said the abuse continued until she gradually cut off contact.
"It was beyond devastating. I can't find a strong enough word to reflect my disdain for the school, the education department in the way that they let me down."
The inquiry, which is holding six weeks of public hearings, on Monday heard from a woman who said a teacher who abused her was moved to another school after she reported his conduct.
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