Nsw Police Integrity Commission Examines Informal Agreements between Catholic Church and Abuse Investigators

By Gabriel Wingate-Pearse
Newcastle Herald
October 3, 2014

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2601988/police-church-deal-under-scrutiny/?cs=12

THE Police Integrity Commission has taken up the issue of informal agreements between NSW Police and the Catholic Church which allowed the church to withhold the results of internal investigations of abuse.

The Commission released a notice on Friday announcing Operation Protea with a public hearing to be held on Monday October 13.

The general scope and purpose of the hearing will be, firstly, to investigate whether there was any police misconduct involved in the participation of a police officer in the Catholic Church Professional Standards Resource Group between 1998 and 2005.

Secondly, it will investigate police involvement in any ‘‘agreement, protocol or Memorandum of Understanding’’ between police and the Catholic Church concerning the handling of complaints of abuse by Catholic Church personnel or employees.

The Newcastle Herald reported in October 2013 that NSW Police and the Catholic Church worked together, under informal agreements, allowing the church to produce edited abuse reports, carry out investigations and decline to release the results to police without court orders.