AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM
[with audio]
MARK COLVIN: The Victorian Government has announced a Parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the criminal abuse of children by religious and other organisations.
Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have been calling for an inquiry for years.
But recent revelations that the church’s handling of complaints could be linked to as many as 40 suicides, put more pressure on the Baillieu Government.
Even now, victims and their families are concerned that the inquiry may not go far enough.
Samantha Donovan reports.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Melbourne man Stephen Woods says that between the ages of 11 and 14 he was repeatedly raped and bashed by three Catholic clergy in the Victorian town of Ballarat.
He says he’s overjoyed by news of the inquiry.
STEPHEN WOODS: It’s wonderful. We’ve, many of us have argued and many of us have been knocking our heads against the walls of bureaucratic walls to try and get some sort of satisfaction, some sort of hearing on the truth.
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