AUSTRALIA
Zenit
Sydney, Australia, October 08, 2013 (Zenit.org)
The Church in Australia is looking to overhaul its system for handling clerical sexual abuse cases. Catholic leaders have endorsed the development of a reform agenda.
According to the blog of the Australian bishops, Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, said the reforms are now being fully developed and will be presented to Church leaders in the first half of 2014.
“These proposals recognize that we must do better when we are dealing with victims of sexual abuse and as we work to make sure our institutions are as safe as possibly for children,” Sullivan said.
Proposals include:
— appointing independent compensation commissioners to determine payments to victims who go through the victim response process known as Towards Healing. This would separate the pastoral responses in Towards Healing from the determination of financial payments
— the appointment of lay and independent experts to strengthen the Church’s National Committee of Professional Standards
— the introduction of an independent national board to develop and administer national child protection standards. The board would monitor adherence to these standards and publicly report on compliance
— the board would also provide more rigorous assessment, monitoring, auditing and enforcement of Towards Healing practices
— the introduction of greater transparency through public reporting by both the new national board and the Towards Healing process.
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