Anglican Church Refuses to Refund Fees to Abused Former Students, Inquiry Told

The Guardian
November 19, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/20/anglican-church-refuses-to-refund-fees-to-abused-former-students-inquiry-told

The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Phillip Aspinall leaves after giving evidence at the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in Sydney, Friday, 20 November, 2015. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The Anglican Church in Brisbane is still refusing to refund fees to former students who suffered abuse, despite the church’s clear policy to do so, a royal commission has been told.

A resumed inquiry into how the diocese handles child sex abuse complaints was told on Friday an abuse survivor’s request for school fees to be refunded was rejected this week.

The church’s director of professional standards in southern Queensland, Gregory Milles, told the abuse survivor it “wouldn’t be policy” for the church to refund fees, the inquiry heard.

The archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, said the refund policy was implemented “some weeks ago”.

Aspinall, who is giving evidence at the hearing in Sydney, expressed surprise a refund request had been rebuffed.

The archbishop was continuing his evidence to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, which is investigating abuse at the Anglican co-ed private school St Paul’s, and at Brisbane Grammar School – a day and boarding school.

Last Friday outside the Brisbane hearing, Aspinall told reporters the church diocesan council decided several weeks ago to adopt the policy of refunding school fees for all abuse victims within the diocese, which stretches from Coolangatta to Bundaberg and west to the Northern Territory border.

In Sydney Kevin Kelso, a lawyer representing abuse victims, asked Aspinall if he knew the policy was being ignored by the professional standards office.

Kelso said Milles told an abuse survivor on Monday: “I don’t wish to refund the school fees, but will an apology do?”

Aspinall said that was “absolutely not” the policy. He said he was very surprised the director of professional standards “does not understand the policy”.

There must be some type of miscommunication, he said.

Kelso asked him if there was any anticipated date when parents of abuse survivors would be told of the policy.

Aspinall, the former primate of the Anglican church in Australia, said the general manager of the diocese was responsible for communicating the policy and he was in the process of identifying parents of abuse survivors.