BishopAccountability.org

Pension Plea for Child Abuse Survivors

By Celine Foenander
The ABC Gippsland
November 18, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/11/18/3893341.htm?site=gippsland

People who spent time in institutions as children are being encouraged to provide a submission to the Royal Commission.

[with audio]

A man who survived years of abuse at a boys home near Sale in the early 1970s has called for compensation in the form of a pension.

Ray Shingles from Longford last week appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

He told the Commission a pension scheme for survivors of abuse would ensure they continue to get the support they need.

"Our communities have a lot of alcohol and drug problems and I think by giving large amounts of money to somebody that's got an alcohol or drug problem, you're not really helping a situation," Mr Shingles says.

"But if you're taking someone off a Newstart allowance that will never be able to work and putting them on a pension at least they'll have peace of mind."

Mr Shingles spent six years at Kilmany Park, a Presbyterian Church home for boys in a farm setting just outside Sale.

He recalls living in fear and witnessing physical and sexual abuse.

He says sharing the experience with the Commissioners was another step forward in his recovery.

"The Commissioners just showed so much empathy and so much understanding," Mr Shingles says.

"They allowed me to tell my story and asked very few questions.

"It was just brilliant."




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