AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
13 Nov 2013
The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations has been tabled in parliament and released publicly – highlighting 15 recommendations.
The two-volume report entitled Betrayal of Trust is the nation’s first major inquiry report to be made public.
The report documents the terrible child abuse that occurred in the Catholic Church, and its failure to recognise and respond to that abuse, mainly over a 25-year period from 1960 to 1985.
The report’s key recommendations cover five important areas: changes to the criminal law; easier access to the civil justice system; an independent alternative avenue for justice; greater independent monitoring and scrutiny of organisations and further improvements to prevention systems and processes.
In tabling the report, committee chair Georgie Crozier said children had suffered unimaginable harm.
“We’ve not only listened but we have heard,” she told the Legislative Council in Melbourne.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.