AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
Sept. 16, 2013
Editorial
THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was set up by the Gillard Labor government, but it will be the Abbott Coalition government that sees it through – for its early years at least.
It is good to know, then, that the new prime minister remains unwavering in his support for the commission and the goals it has been empowered to pursue. Indeed, Mr Abbott declared his support for a royal commission before the present inquiry was announced, a fact that should quieten the fears of any who might have feared a change in mood from Canberra.
Some believe the commission could run for a decade, a suggestion that may seem far-fetched until one considers the frightening backlog of complaints that has accumulated over several decades.
As the commission kicked off its public hearings in Sydney yesterday, the scale and extent of the abuse to be examined was already surprising and shocking some.
Even the inquiry’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, revealed that – despite having presided over child sex abuse cases – even he had not fully comprehended the devastating consequences such abuse could have on its victims.
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