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Catholic Church denies 'making excuses' over compensation for sexual abuse victims

By Jane Norman
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
March 12, 2018

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-12/catholic-church-denies-making-excuses-over-sex-abuse-payments/9538014

Australia's Social Services Minister Christian Porter speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017.

The Catholic Church has hit back at claims it is "making excuses" and dragging its feet on a compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse.

The Prime Minister and the Attorney-General have been pressuring the church to join the national redress scheme, with Malcolm Turnbull saying institutions that don't sign up should be publicly "shamed".

In a major development, New South Wales and Victoria last week became the first states to sign up to the scheme, which would provide up to $150,000 in compensation to victims of child sex abuse.

With a planned start date of July 1, the Commonwealth is ramping up pressure on the other states and territories, institutions, churches and charities to join, warning those who do not "will be judged harshly".

Christian Porter, who is the architect of the scheme, has taken aim at the "underwhelming" response from the Melbourne Archdiocese of the Catholic Church after it indicated it needed more time to review the details before jumping on board.

"This issue has been reviewed more extensively probably than any issue in Australia's recent modern history," Mr Porter said.

"[It's] starting to look like making excuses for the sake of making excuses and delay, which I think victims would be more than a little bit upset about."

That prompted a similarly terse response from the Archdiocese which said any "fair-minded person" would agree that it is "perfectly reasonable" to see what is being proposed.

"I suggest the Attorney-General looks again at Archbishop Hart's comments of Friday, which could not possibly be defined as an underwhelming response," it said in a statement.

Mr Porter's criticism is not limited to the church. He has also lashed out at the West Australian Government, which is refusing to join the scheme because it claims the Commonwealth has not provided sufficient information.

"They send out a spokesperson to say they can't join because there's not enough information. It's just incorrect," Mr Porter said.

"I think victims in WA would be very angry about that. I think that was a disrespectful response."

The royal commission recommended payments of up to $200,000 and an average payment of $65,000, but the deal struck with NSW and Victoria caps payments at $150,000. The average payment to survivors in these states would be around $76,000.

Payments are not available to people convicted of serious crimes or sex offences, but the Social Services Minister Dan Tehan says there will be some exemptions.




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