AUSTRALIA
SBS
A national inquiry into sexual abuse in religious institutions is needed, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) says.
The ALA says the Victorian government’s parliamentary inquiry into abuse, announced on Tuesday, will be “manifestly inadequate” as it will miss widespread cases of abuse across the rest of Australia.
A spokesman for the alliance’s NSW branch, Andrew Morrison SC, said many cases in the state had not been properly investigated.
Dr Morrison singled out the Catholic Church, saying while many other religious institutions also had problems, the church was infamous for failing to comply with legal obligations to report abuse by priests under the Crimes Act.
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