AUSTRALIA
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Abuses at the North Coast Children’s Home have been detailed to the third “case study” hearing of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney this week. The institution was run by the Anglican Church (known elsewhere as the Episcopalian Church or the Church of England), although their officials have denied this, claiming it was, in fact, run by a committee, and therefore the church was not morally or legally responsible for what happened there.
The audacity of the church’s attempts to deny responsibility can be shown by the inclusion of the sign on the main gate to the Home (pictured above) clearly identifying the “Church of England” (as the Anglican Church was then known). The above photo was tended to the enquiry as evidence.
An insight into Phillip Aspinall’s (see previous posting) church’s duplicity was given by the testimony, today, of lawyer, Simon Harrison, who represented some of the victims. He testified that the way the Anglican Church dealt with the claims was the most “scurrilous and mean-minded” he has ever seen. He said that a lawyer for the Grafton diocese, Peter Roland, claimed there were limited funds for Mr Harrison’s clients.
“He was pleading poverty, but I have seen that so many times with churches I just took it as a matter of course. Out of all the claims I’ve dealt with over quite a few years, the way this was dealt with by the church was perhaps the most scurrilous and mean-minded attitude I’d ever come across quite frankly.” When Mr Harrison represented a former resident, known only as CA, who sought compensation after the group settlement had been reached in 2007, he was told the North Coast Children’s Home file was closed.
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