AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Jill Rowbotham
From:The Australian
November 24, 2012
SCRAP it. That’s what Sydney lawyer and sex-abuse survivor John Ellis says the Catholic Church should do with its Towards Healing policy for dealing with sex-abuse victims.
Mr Ellis, who has first-hand experience of Towards Healing, said the main problem with it and the parallel Melbourne Response was an inherent conflict of interest: cases are managed by church-appointed personnel, although complainants are encouraged to go to police.
The policies will be discussed at an Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference meeting in Sydney starting on Monday.
“I think ultimately they are probably going to have to start again,” Mr Ellis said of Towards Healing, introduced in 1997.
Some victims struggled with “a perception and a reality of coming to the body that has been responsible for causing harm to you and asking them to do something about it”.
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