AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Leader
June 8, 2018
By Mark Bowling
ROYAL Commissioner Bob Atkinson has offered encouragement to Australian churches taking up the recommendations of the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, including the payment of compensation to survivors.
“I can say it is very heartening to see the support of various faiths in recent times for the national redress scheme,” Mr Atkinson, a former Queensland police commissioner, said while addressing an annual Lord Mayor’s prayer breakfast in Brisbane.
Four out of five child sexual abuse survivors will be covered by the national redress scheme, after the Anglican Church, Salvation Army, YMCA and Scouts Australia joined the Catholic Church in endorsing it.
The Catholic Church has estimated it will be liable for about $1 billion in compensation.
The national scheme will cover about 60,000 institutional child sexual abuse survivors nationally, with compensation payments capped at $150,000.
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