AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Brad Ryan
The royal commission into child sexual abuse has referred more than 1,500 matters to authorities, straining the resources of police forces around the country, one of its hearings has been told.
Justice Peter McClellan, who chairs the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, told a hearing in Sydney that 1,659 matters had been passed on to police to consider for further investigation.
Prosecutions have been brought against 71 people.
“Because of the volume of references, the resources of the various police forces have been placed under significant pressure,” Justice McClellan said.
“I understand a great many references are awaiting investigation, or the investigations are underway but not complete.”
Justice McClellan said the commission had received information about more than 4,000 institutions, but it was impossible to hold public hearings into all of them.
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