AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Lanai Vasek and Peter Wilson
From:The Australian
November 14, 2012
ATTORNEY-General Nicola Roxon says the royal commission into child abuse will determine if the confidentiality of the Catholic confessional should be broken to ensure pedophile priests are reported to authorities.
Ms Roxon said she was currently consulting with her state counterparts to determine the terms of reference of the commission and expected “several commissioners” to be chosen to work on the inquiry.
She said it would be up to the commission to work out if Catholic priests would be compelled to report confessed child abusers.
“I think we are asking the royal commission to look at what went wrong in particular institutions,” Ms Roxon told ABC radio.
“I don’t think we should be ruling in and out any issues that might be raised at the commission.
“We know that there are delicate matters and ultimately that’s why I think it’s important to pick commissioners with high standing and considerable experience and let them do the job that the government and the community is asking them to do.”
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