AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
AAP
The Catholic Church’s much-criticised Melbourne Response is not independent, is overly legalistic and should leave it to the police to advise abuse victims about potential charges, an inquiry has found.
The child abuse royal commission has found the Melbourne Response scheme is not sufficiently independent of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and its independent commissioners, Carelink counselling and compensation panel are not necessarily independent of each other.
They also share the same lawyers as the archdiocese, creating a potential for conflict and difficulties with maintaining confidentiality, it said.
“We consider that a scheme that is heavily dominated by lawyers and traditional legal process is unlikely to provide the most supportive environment for complainants,” its report released on Monday said.
It found an independent Melbourne Response commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan QC, discouraged two abuse victims from going to the police by providing advice about the process.
“Advice about the approach that the police might take to any prosecution, and the likely outcome, should have been left to the police,” the commission said. “They were the body with all of the relevant information.”
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