Abuse Commission "10 Years Too Late', Says Phillip Aspinall

By Jamie Walker
The Australian
November 16, 2012

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/abuse-commission-10-years-too-late-says-phillip-aspinall/story-fngburq5-1226518155145

ANGLICAN Primate Phillip Aspinall says the planned national royal commission into child sex abuse should have been called a decade ago, when he first approached then prime minister John Howard to set up such an inquiry.

In a statement today strongly backing the inquiry announced this week by Julia Gillard, the spiritual leader of the country's 3.6 million Anglicans said it offered a historic opportunity to protect children and called for bipartisan support from MPs to make it well-resourced, independent and free from political agendas.

Dr Aspinall, the Archbishop of Brisbane, also reminded the Prime Minister that "all victims of child sex abuse" would be looking to the royal commission for answers and validation, including the vast majority who were harmed in family settings.

"Of the nearly 3.6 million Australians who call themselves Anglican, statistically, one in four women and one in eight men are victims of abuse, so it is something that affects our church on many levels," he said.