AUSTRALIA
Tamut and Adelong Times
By Frances Vinall – July 6, 2017
The independent review into the decision to place former Tumut parish priest Father Brian Hassett next to a Canberra primary school, after he was removed from this parish following an investigation into inappropriate behaviour towards children, has been completed.
Contrary to desires expressed by the Tumut community to Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse, the review did not incorporate the investigation that led to Father Brian’s removal from Tumut in the first place. That investigation was conducted by Archdiocesan Professional Standards Officer Matt Casey, who is no longer employed by the Archdiocese as of Friday – timing the Archbishop says is coincidental.
Dr Juliet Lucy, Barrister, conducted the review, after the barrister originally hired for the job, Jane Seymour, stepped aside. Dr Lucy’s report is, in the Archbishop’s own words, “highly humiliating for the Archdiocese.”
One of her key findings is the Archdiocese’s either inability or unwillingness to communicate openly with the community and other stakeholders as the affair became public knowledge.
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