AUSTRALIA
Global Voices
January 2, 2018
Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was always certain to stir controversy, particularly with regard to the Catholic Church, and it did just that when it delivered its final report on 15 December 2017.
The Royal Commission came about because of, as the report explains, “the sexual and other abuse of children in institutional settings, and the reluctance of those institutions involved to address this problem.” Its five years of hearings had already revealed widespread criminality, cover-ups and systemic failures across a wide range of both religious and other organisations.
According to the final report, the commission, which cost 500 million Australian dollars (380 million US dollars), was contacted by 16,953 people covered by its terms of reference, heard from 7,981 survivors of child sexual abuse in 8,013 private sessions, received 1,344 written accounts, referred 2,562 matters to police and made 409 recommendations.
For many people, its real achievement has been to air the voices of individual survivors who in many cases have waited decades to be heard. A total of 3,956 survivor “Narratives” are on the commission website with this warning: “This story is about child sexual abuse. It may contain graphic descriptions and strong language, and may be confronting and disturbing.”
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