Anthony Foster State Funeral: Child Sex Abuse Victim Advocate Remembered for ‘extraordinary Courage’

The Guardian
June 6, 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/07/anthony-foster-state-funeral-child-sex-abuse-victim-advocate-remembered-for-extraordinary-courage

The funeral service for Anthony Foster in Melbourne on Wednesday. Foster was a campaigner for child sexual abuse victims and took on the Catholic church after his daughters were raped by a priest. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP

Anthony Foster left a legacy “pushing justice” for child sex abuse survivors in the Catholic church, mourners at his state funeral in Melbourne have heard.

Brian Foster, with his sister Carol Burckhardt, spoke of how their brother loved his family but paid a high price for his years of campaigning against the church.

“His greatest campaign is on child sex abuse for people in the Catholic church. This is his legacy, pushing justice,” his brother said at the funeral on Wednesday.

“The personal cost to Anthony and [his wife] Chrissie has been enormous.”

Anthony Foster, who was 64, was a tireless advocate for their daughters Emma and Kate, who were raped by an infamous paedophile at their primary school during 1988 and 1993. He died last month after a suspected stroke.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said Foster would never be forgotten “as his legacy will continue to guide his way forward”.

“He was a man who loved, who cared and fostered,” he said, and praised the “extraordinary courage” of Foster and his wife.

“They had faced their own tragedy, a betrayal of trust and then denial,” he said. “Then remarkably the Fosters dedicated their lives to fighting on behalf of every victim. Fighting for every childhood taken and every family broken.”

ABC radio’s Jon Faine hosted the service for more than 1,000 people at Melbourne Recital Centre, reading an email from one sex abuse survivor, Patrick, who said the Fosters were “unconscious mentors” while he went through trauma.

His friend Alan Worthington spoke of a generous man, who always kept his humour despite adversity.

Chrissie Foster accepted the state funeral to commemorate a man who “quietly and profoundly changed Australian history”. Copies of her book, Hell on the Way to Heaven, were available for mourners to take outside the service.

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