AUSTRALIA
The Age
[with video]
Catholic Church’s Melbourne Response commissioner expected complaints process to take six months
August 19, 2014
Jane Lee and Cameron Houston
The man who determined whether the Catholic Church should compensate Melbourne clergy abuse victims for almost 20 years thought it would only take six months to handle all their complaints.
Peter O’Callaghan, QC, was appointed the Independent Commissioner of the church’s Melbourne Response – its internal process for handling abuse victims’ complaints – for a six-month term in 1996.
Mr O’Callaghan, who appeared at the Royal Commission in Melbourne on Tuesday, said he told the church’s solicitors and Archbishop Hart that he was optimistic the investigations could be concluded in a short time-frame.
“I was all for expediency if I could achieve it,” he said.
After almost two decades and over 351 complaints, Mr O’Callaghan, QC, conceded his initial estimate was “utopian”.
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