AUSTRALIA
National Catholic Reporter
by Stephen Crittenden | Dec. 5, 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced Nov. 12 that a national royal commission would investigate institutional responses to allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia.
The commission will look at a wide array of public and private institutions that serve youth, from schools and residential homes to the Boy and Girl Scouts, but the abuse of minors in the Catholic church is undeniably an impetus for the announcement.
The decision, taken at a meeting of the federal cabinet, has received overwhelming public support; 95 precent of Australians approve of the commission, according to a Herald-Nielsen opinion poll.
Pressure for a national royal commission has been mounting for years, led by abuse victims and some sections of the Australian media. Child sexual abuse is already the subject of an ongoing parliamentary inquiry in the state of Victoria, and in early November another inquiry was announced in the state of New South Wales.
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