AUSTRALIA
ABC News
[with audio]
The Royal Commission has heard from senior officials from the Anglican Church, who’ve criticised the way the Grafton diocese handled complaints from the former residents of the North Coast Children’s Home. The national inquiry into child sexual abuse has been told the Grafton diocese, which ran the orphanage in Lismore, was more concerned about church finances than helping abuse victims. A former head of professional standards admitted that he failed to take disciplinary action against a clergyman who was convicted and jailed for child sex offences.
Transcript
MARK COLVIN: Senior Anglican Church officials have criticised the way the Grafton Diocese in New South Wales handled abuse complaints from former residents of a Church-run children’s home.
The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has been told that the diocese which ran the orphanage in Lismore was more concerned about its own finances than helping abuse victims.
The inquiry also heard that the leadership of the Grafton Diocese contributed to the mental distress of the victims who were seeking redress and compensation.
PM’s Emily Bourke reports.
EMILY BOURKE: Yet more Anglican Church officials are being quizzed by the Royal Commission about how the church dealt with dozens of abuse victims from the North Coast Children’s Home.
But today the inquiry also looked at how the Church handled offenders in its ranks.
Philip Gerber was a professional standards director in the dioceses of Sydney, Grafton and Newcastle. He told the commission that he regrets taking more than a year to inform police about a suspected paedophile.
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