Child Abuse Royal Commission: Review of Melbourne Response Recommends Redress Scheme Be Separated from Church

By Karen Percy
ABC News
February 24, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-24/sexual-abuse-redress-scheme-should-be-separated-from-church/8301934

The Melbourne Archbishop should not oversee the Catholic Church's scheme to address sexual abuse within the archdiocese, a redacted report has recommended.

A 2015 report into the Melbourne Response by former Federal Court judge Donnell Ryan QC was released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse late this afternoon, at the conclusion of hearings featuring senior Catholic figures.

The report was suppressed by the Catholic Church for more than a year.

In it, Mr Ryan makes 17 recommendations, several of them suggesting those in charge of the scheme not be under the Archbishop's power, that files and archives be held separately, and that budget and administrative matters also be separated out.

But he points out "nothing has been revealed ... to suggest [anyone] ... has ever acted under the direction or influence of the Archbishop or any other church official".

The Melbourne Response was established by Cardinal George Pell in 1996, when he was Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne.

Mr Ryan has also recommended the scheme appoint qualified lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists, and it be statewide.

He noted that apologies to complainants had "generally not been adapted to reflect a recognition of the harm done to each individual applicant".

As of August 2015, the Melbourne Response had processed 364 claims.

Church's victims welcome report

Victims, their families and advocates for survivors have welcomed the report's release.

Anthony Foster, who had two daughters abused by notorious paedophile Father Frank O'Donnell in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh in the 1980s and 90s, wants the recommended changes implemented.

"It's out there now, now we really want to talk to them about it," he said.

Mr Foster and his wife, Christine, were in contact with the church in 1996 when the Melbourne Response was first flagged.

The Fosters have been pushing for changes to the Melbourne Response for nine years.

"Those structural changes I think are very important, we would like to see those happen," Mr Foster said.

"That independence is something that would have gone a long way to alleviating or solving or preventing many of the problems that have been created within the Melbourne Response for so many victims."

One of the Fosters' daughter, Emma, was offered $50,000 via the scheme.

Their other daughter Katie also applied to the scheme.

PHOTO: Anthony and Christine Foster (in 2008) have been pushing for changes to the Melbourne Response for nine years. (ABC News: Emma Renwick)

After Emma took her own life, and Katie sustained life-changing injuries, the Fosters pursued the church in the courts.

In 2005, the church offered the family $750,000.

In the early days of the scheme, payments were capped at $50,000, which was later raised to $75,000.

In November, the church raised it again to $150,000 - one of the recommendations of Mr Ryan, kept secret until now.

"The really, really sad thing is that if the church had listened to us, if they had really made it an independent process all those years ago, if George Pell had listened to us in 1996 ... much of what is recommended now would have been put in place," he said.

The Fosters have long been critical of the approach taken by the church in offering apologies, another area highlighted by Mr Ryan.

"I think this is the case right until this day," Mr Foster said.

"The apologies seem to be simply a photocopy with names changed and that's really not good enough."

"We really want to see some connection with victims as to what's happened."

'Disappointing' report was not released earlier

Melbourne lawyer, Angela Sdrinis, who specialises in institutional abuse, said victims should not have been forced to wait this long for the report.

"I think victims will be very pleased that the report has now been released by the royal commission, but it is actually very, very disappointing that Archbishop Hart didn't take the step of releasing the report earlier," she said.

"I think victims would be very keen to see the full report and not a redaction."

Ms Sdrinis said she was not surprised by Mr Ryan's recommendation that the church's Melbourne scheme be removed from the Archbishop's oversight, because Mr Ryan had always given the impression he would act independently.

"What is actually surprising to me is that so many of the Catholic hierarchy, who have presided over this sexual abuse scandal over some decades now, are still in power," she said.

"Anything that can can be done to remove control or oversight from the hierarchy [as per Mr Ryan's recommendation,] I think is absolutely essential."

The ABC has contacted the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese for comment.