AUSTRALIA
The Courier
By TOM MCILROY
Nov. 25, 2012
RELIGIOUS ministers in Ballarat should be subject to new laws requiring them to report suspicions of child abuse to authorities, the Catholic Church said yesterday.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart yesterday said an extension of Victoria’s mandatory reporting rules should be immediately made to include religious ministers across the state and for the establishment of new mechanisms for reporting offenders without exposing victims.
However, the proposal would not require priests to report information received during the sacrament of confession.
Archbishop Hart issued a statement in response to comments from Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu who forecast changes to the Crimes Act to compel priests to report suspicions of abuse.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.