AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Jacquelin Magnay and Ean Higgins
From:The Australian
April 26, 2013
THE Catholic Church in Australia has hired an experienced Irish investigator of clerical abuse — who has called for a complete cleanout of people who ignored child sexual activities — as the church undergoes further scrutiny in the royal commission.
Ian Elliott, the chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, will head to Melbourne in the next few months after spending the past six years scrutinising child sexual abuses within the Irish Catholic Church.
Mr Elliot said Australia had to be prepared to be accountable and transparent — and have evidence that they are being accountable and transparent — before children can be kept safe and protected.
He said his Irish experience, which included a review of the Diocese of Cloyne and formulating a rigorous review and standards process for child protection that has been adopted by the church, showed Australia could only eradicate child abuse within the church if there was full conviction to do so from the bishop down.
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