Nearly five years since the unfathomable tragedy that took the lives of six children in a jumping castle accident at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania, their families are finally understanding more about what happened that awful day.
A coronial inquest into the incident is being held over four days from September 21, and harrowing evidence has already been heard from those attending the scene.
“This inquest is fundamentally about answers, accountability and making sure that every possible lesson is learnt from what happened at Hillcrest,” Dimi Ioannou, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers principal, told New Idea exclusively.
The inquest has heard from a police crime scene examiner, who told the coroner he was confronted with “organised chaos” when he arrived at the school.
“It was nothing like I’d seen – it was unprecedented in my career,” Constable Dean Wotherspoon said.
It was December 16, 2021, and students were celebrating the end of term when a freak wind tossed a jumping castle and zorb balls they were playing on high into the air.
In the mass-casualty event, the most serious seen in North West Tasmania in two decades, Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor died. Three of their classmates were seriously injured.
The inquest has examined the cause of death for each of the children, all aged 11 or 12, with all the fatalities a result of injuries from their fall.
It also heard how a communication breakdown meant some parents rushed to hospital when their child was still on the scene, and that it took hours for some children to be identified and their parents to be told they had died.
Georgie Burt, Zane’s mother, spoke of the horror discovering her son was amongst the victims.
“I felt like someone had ripped my heart out whole,” she told the inquest.
Her trauma was further exacerbated when she was not able to see her son’s body until three days later, at the funeral home.
In the years since the tragedy, Georgie claims she was never contacted by staff at the school.
“Nobody wanted to talk about it,” she said, adding later that all she wanted was transparency.
The families have also had to sit through criminal proceedings in 2025, during which the jumping castle’s operator, Rosemary Gamble, was cleared of criminal workplace safety breaches.
“They have had to navigate an extraordinarily painful series of processes while grieving the loss of their children and loved ones,” Dimi says.
Speaking outside the inquest, Georgie said she hoped for safety reform, particularly considering recent accidents elsewhere around Australia.
Earlier in September, five children in NSW and Victoria were taken to hospital after being injured in separate incidents involving jumping castles and wind.
“Reports of other incidents involving inflatable equipment are understandably very difficult for the families,” Dimi says.
“Five years on, the children remain at the heart of everything they are doing. Their determination to honour their memories and to help make things safer for other children is incredibly powerful.”
“I don’t think there will ever be a complete amount of closure when it comes to losing our children,” Georgie told media.
“I hope for better protocols. I hope for law change. I hope that people can have a really good look.”
The inquest will resume in blocks in November and February with evidence from a range of other experts.
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