AUSTRALIA
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
16/11/2012
By Primate’s office media release
The Primate of the Anglican Church said today that the royal commission called by Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered an historic opportunity to protect Australian children.
Brisbane’s Archbishop Phillip Aspinall commended the Prime Minister for her decision to establish a royal commission. He also urged that the commission’s terms of reference should be full and fearless and called for the commission to properly resourced.
He said a truly federal process was warranted given child sexual abuse crosses State and territory borders, infecting all places where child live, learn and play, including churches, schools, sporting clubs and families.
Archbishop Aspinall acknowledged that the royal commission would address shameful failings on the part of institutions, including churches. But a comprehensive, independent examination would also give ordinary Australians a chance to see for themselves the results of a decade-plus reform process instituted across many Anglican dioceses.
In Archbishop Aspinall’s Brisbane diocese, every allegation of child sexual abuse is reported to police, the diocese assists police, victims of historic abuse have been actively sought out, multiple times, via media calls and advertising.
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