AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

[with poll]

Michelle Grattan
Political editor of The Age

THE federal government had little choice but to set up a royal commission into child sex abuse, given the horrific evidence, the extent of what has happened over many years, the cries of victims and the reaction of an appalled community.

But responding to both the problem and the public outcry brings difficulties that will become even more apparent as the work gets underway.

Obviously the commission had to go wide. While the Catholic Church has been the focus of many of the allegations, it could not be singled out.

But once you went beyond it, where to stop? It could not just look at churches. State institutions, schools of all types, sporting bodies, even the boy scouts – the list is endless and the PM says they are all to be included.