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	Church Will Sell Land to Pay Victims of Sex Abuse By Gavin Lower The Australian October 27, 2008 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24556006-5006787,00.html THE Anglican Church in Adelaide has voted to sell off part of its historic archbishop's residence, freeing up money to pay compensation commitments to church sex abuse victims. Synod members met yesterday and agreed to break up Bishop's Court, the home of Adelaide's Anglican archbishops since 1856, by subdividing a 1000sqm section of the grounds that used to be a tennis court. Archbishop Jeffrey Driver said the decision to subdivide theproperty, near St Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide, was subject to approval from another church body and himself. However, Archbishop Driver said he had indicated he would consent to the sale of the land, expected to fetch about $1.4 million. The synod, which runs the Adelaide diocese, voted on Saturday not to sell the whole of Bishop's Court. Archbishop Driver said while any money from the subdivision had to be used to support the See, which maintains Bishop's Court and funds the ministry of the bishop, it would allow money from the synod's budget to be applied elsewhere. "It will help the synod's budget to deal with the effects of payments for sexual abuse cases," Archbishop Driver said. The Adelaide diocese took out a $7.5 million loan to pay the victims of sex abuse. Archbishop Driver said that in the past three years, 80 sex abuse victims involved in incidents dating back 50 years had received compensation. The church had so far paid out more than $5million in compensation. Several cases that were the subject of police investigations or were going through the judicial process remained to be settled. In 2004, the local church was rocked by a sex abuse scandal, which ultimately forced Archbishop Driver's predecessor, Ian George, to take early retirement over the perception the diocese had failed to adequately respond to the complaints. The diocese was then confronted with millions of dollars in damages claims from up to 100 victims of alleged abuse by priests and church staff, including youth workers.
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