AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Catholic Church has been accused of going against the wishes of sex abuse victims by not providing key information to investigators, an inquiry has heard.

The Police Integrity Commission has also heard the practice of ‘blind reporting’ – a process by which allegations of child sexual abuse were reported to police without identifying the victim – was open to misconduct and may have been in breach of the NSW Crimes Act.

In her opening address on Monday, counsel assisting Kristina Stern SC said the vast majority of complainants were not advised by the church’s Professional Standards Resource Group (PSRG) to take their complaint to the police.

Created by Catholic bishops, the PSRG, which included members of the police force, was set up to advise the church’s Professional Standards Office (PSO) on child sexual abuse cases involving clergy and others.

The former head of the PSO,…