Salvation Army admits abuse of boys is its greatest failure: inquiry

By Dan Box
Australian
June 23, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/salvation-army-admits-abuse-of-boys-is-its-greatest-failure-inquiry/story-fngburq5-1226963739697

THE Salvation Army will review every compensation payment it has made to the victims of child sex abuse by its staff, after the royal commission unveiled evidence of the “greatest failure” in the church’s history.

During a submissions hearing today, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told 19 Salvation Army staff are alleged to have abused around 115 boys living in four of the church’s childrens’ homes.

“The Salvation Army acknowledges that this is the greatest failure in its history in Australia. It acknowledges that many children entrusted to its care in the past suffered horrific abuse,” the church’s barrister, Kate Eastman, told the commission.

But she maintained it was not open to the commission to make a finding that widespread sexual abuse was perpetrated by many officers and employees - contrary to the suggestion of the counsel assisting the commission.

The boys were abused at four homes run by the Salvation Army in NSW and Queensland over several decades before 1983. Many of the alleged offenders were never reported to police, the commission has heard.

“The Army knows it cannot remove the hurt and suffering but it can and will acknowledge its failures (and) accept responsibility,” Ms Eastman said.

The church would now review all compensation payments made to these, and other, child abuse victims, but would continue to insist that a condition of receiving such a payment would be an agreement not to sue the Salvation Army in court, she said.

“How could it be said the survivor is being put first when the Army, having all the power, says if you want an ex gratia payment you can’t sue us?” commission chair Peter McClellan asked.

Ms Eastman replied: “All these might be matters that need to be considered not just in term of our client but more generally.”

“Well, they are,” Justice McClellan said.

Ms Eastman said the Salvation Army had 17,831 children in its care across four homes in NSW and Queensland in the 113 years from 1883 to 1996, and there had been 157 claims of abuse from children in that time.

“We don’t for one moment seek to diminish or oversimplify or justify by historical circumstances, but we do submit that the total number of claims against the total number of children reflects a relatively small number of children reporting sexual abuse during their time at the home,’’ Ms Eastman said.

The Salvation Army’s submission follows public hearings earlier this year.

The commission’s first interim report, due on June 30, is expected to highlight the issue of what compensation and other forms of restitution child sex abuse victims receive.