AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia
Margaret Burin
As the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse begins its first public hearings in Ballarat, five victims call for recognition, justice and a national scheme to support survivors.
As Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse begins its first public hearings in Ballarat, five victims have called for recognition, justice and a national scheme to support survivors.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a notorious paedophile ring preyed on children in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat.
Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, Brother Robert Best, Brother Ted Dowlan and Brother Stephen Frances Farrell were among the convicted paedophiles who operated in the area.
Beginning on Tuesday, May 19 and continuing for the next three weeks, the royal commission will hear evidence from survivors of abuse at Catholic Church institutions in Ballarat.
They will hear evidence from students, parents and other witnesses, as well as the response of five Catholic institutions to clergy abuse.
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