AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Tom Joyner
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has come a long way since it first began hearings in April 2013.
Since then, it’s made almost 2,000 referrals to authorities, held more than 6,500 private sessions, and handled almost 40,000 phone calls.
But with so much ground to cover, where is it up to now and what’s left to go?
Why are we having a royal commission?
The child abuse royal commission was first announced in November 2012 by the Gillard government following calls that year for a national inquiry into how the Catholic Church handled allegations of abuse.
What is a royal commission?
The announcement was triggered by explosive allegations on Lateline from a former priest and a senior NSW police officer that the Catholic Church was covering up claims of abuse.
It was also prompted by reports of clerical abuse in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley regions by journalist Joanne McCarthy in the Newcastle Herald.
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