AUSTRALIA
ABC News
[with audio]
The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has been told that the Anglican Church took a hardline and antagonistic approach to dealing with abuse victims from the North Coast Children’s Home. An advisor to the Anglican Primate of Australia told the inquiry that there was concern about how the diocese was handling the negotiations, but couldn’t intervene.
Transcript
MARK COLVIN: The child abuse Royal Commission has heard that the Anglican Church took a harsh and antagonistic approach to victims of abuse from the New South Wales North Coast Children’s Home.
The inquiry’s been told that the Grafton Diocese which ran the home took a legal hard line against compensation claims by the former residents of the orphanage.
The lawyer representing the group said the Grafton Diocese had “gone rogue” and the Church’s key negotiator had “an attitude of machismo on par with Clint Eastwood.”
A warning: some parts of Emily Bourke’s report may distress some listeners.
EMILY BOURKE: The Royal Commission has heard more shocking accounts from survivors of abuse at the North Coast Children’s home.
A statement from witness CN was read to the inquiry.
CN (read statement): I was raped three times by older boys who lived in the home. I was told and I heard other children being told by staff that we were dirty little heathens. I was told I was bad and horrible. I was made to feel worthless by the people in the home.
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