(AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC [Sydney, Australia]
April 4, 2023
By Kyra Gillespie
Advocates and legal groups say a landmark “breakthrough” over the Catholic Church’s culpability for the crimes of paedophile priests will lead to better outcomes for victim-survivors.
Key points:
- Victoria’s highest court has upheld a ruling finding the Catholic Church liable for sexual abuse by a paedophile priest
- The ruling brings Australia in line with international law
- A lawyer says the tide has turned for abuse survivors in Australia
Yesterday Victoria’s highest court upheld a ruling that the Catholic Church is vicariously liable for child sexual abuse by a priest, making it easier for survivors to receive compensation.
Ballarat abuse survivor Paul Auchettl knows too well that for the longest time, clergy abuse was encased in silence.
He was abused by the notorious paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Best, who was Mr Auchettl’s Year Six teacher at St Alipius primary school.
His younger brother Peter was also abused and died by suicide more than a decade ago.
Mr Auchettl said communities like his gave everything to the church when he was a child.
But when reports started surfacing about clergy abuse, people saw it as a “major betrayal” that still had not been rectified.
“To open up the courts to identify [that] the church was an authority in our lives and was responsible for the misbehaviour, is a massive step forward,” Mr Auchettl said.
“I’m hoping this is a breakthrough … and we can go to those families who are still angry and hurt and lost out there somewhere, and bring them back.
“To me that’s a Christian thing to do.”
Tide turning for survivors
Lawyer Laird Macdonald has acted for hundreds of abuse survivors.
He said reforms by the Victorian parliament, and the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, had turned the tide for survivors.
“It’s important that people realise the way law used to function and the way it functions now is very different for abuse survivors,” Mr Macdonald said.
“There’s been a huge shift in the landscape.
The ruling brings Australia in line with international law where vicarious liability has been established for priests and religious orders.
Mr Laird expected the Catholic Church Insurance organisation to appeal the decision because it faced potential liability at a scale “never seen before”.
“I would say the dam wall is cracking. It’s more than cracked; it’s started to leak,” he said.
“They’re having to confront a very bitter legacy where they, for the longest time, put the prestige of their institution above the rights of the survivors who have been treated so horrifically.”
Bravery improving the system
Centre Against Sexual Assault chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn said when the court system worked well, it could be transformative for survivors.
“This is a significant win,” she said.
“The bravery of survivors is making the court better. Now we need the government to back survivors and invest to improve core processes.
Ms Maltzhan said when there was not an early response to child sexual abuse it could have a negative impact on a victim mentally, physically and financially.
“We can’t be confident in these sort of outcomes until every survivor gets a decent hearing and a decent process when they go into the legal system,” she said.
The court of appeal’s decision on Monday related to the case of a victim known as DP who was abused by the late Father Bryan Coffey at his parent’s home in 1971.
The crux of the case was whether the diocese and the current bishop, Paul Bird, could be held liable for Coffey’s actions, despite the assistant priest not being a formal employee of the church. The church’s attempt to appeal was dismissed.
Bishop Bird declined the ABC’s request for comment.