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ELEANOR HALL: Now to the Royal Commission into Child Abuse, where one of the Salvation Army’s most senior leaders told the inquiry this morning that the organisation had received more than 150 abuse complaints, mostly over the last decade.
Commissioner James Condon’s evidence follows two weeks of public hearings which the Salvation Army conceded have shamed the organisation. Today he told the inquiry that the Salvation Army is no longer focused on protecting its reputation but on putting victims first.
Emily Bourke has been covering the inquiry and joins us now. Emily, is commissioner Condon the most senior Salvation Army witness to appear at the inquiry?
EMILY BOURKE: He certainly is. Commissioner James Condon has been serving with the Salvation Army for more than 40 years, and he was appointed to the Commander post in 2011.
He’s revealed today that, over the past decade, there’s been a transformation in the way the organisation handles complaints. Nowadays, victims are treated warmly, their stories are believed and respected – and this is in stark contrast to the policy of the 1990s, which was to acknowledge the abuse but not to apologise to victims and not to pay any compensation claims had been proved in court.
Now, James Condon told the inquiry that the organisation has received 157 complaints; 133 people have gone through the process and received an ex gratia payment, an apology and counselling costs over the last 10 years. Here’s a bit of what he had to say.
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