Abuse Hearings 'Unable to Meet Deadline'

By Pia Akerman
The Australian
April 3, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/abuse-hearings-unable-to-meet-deadline/story-fngburq5-1226611506819

THE royal commission into child sexual abuse has leapt into action by serving notices on the Catholic Church to produce documents, while warning the timelines laid out for the massive inquiry are "unlikely" to be met.

Commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan said he expected evidence would not be taken until at least the last quarter of this year.

He said expects the commission will hear serious and shocking allegations and that he had been advised the commissioners themselves and their staff could be harmed by constantly hearing the allegations.

Justice McClellan said for that reason it would not be possible for the commission to continuously listen to victims' stories.

The commission's opening hearing in Melbourne today heard the 2016 deadline for its final report was unrealistic because of the number of people expected to give personal accounts and the number of institutions affected by allegations.

Justice McClellan told a packed courtroom that the inquiry has so far received 1200 calls and at least 5000 people are expected to want to talk to the commissioners.

"I propose to use the time between now and the delivery of the interim report (due by mid 2014) to complete as much of our task as we can and, when that report is delivered, government will be able to make a judgement as to the future course which the commission should take," he said.

Justice McClellan said notices seeking production of documents had already been served on bodies within the Catholic Church and its insurer, the Salvation Army and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, with more notices currently being prepared.

"Our inquiries indicate that most institutions are not immediately able to provide the commission with documents which record their internal management practices and the manner in which they may have dealt with complaints of child sexual abuse," he said.

"There will also be difficulties in locating people who held positions of responsibility in the institutions at the relevant time."

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will conduct both private and public sessions, with privately given accounts of abuse unsworn and not taken as evidence.

Information obtained in a private session will only become evidence if it is later sworn, with the person or institution facing the allegations given the opportunity to cross-examine and make submissions.

In his half hour opening address, Justice McClellan said the commission would only allow allegations to be made public if it believed the airing of those allegations was justified "notwithstanding the risk of damage to a person or an institution's reputation."

"The commission welcomes the response from the Catholic Church, which has been repeated on a number of occasions, that it will fully cooperate with the commission," he said.

The commission does not expect to hold any public hearings where evidence is taken until late this year.

Justice McClellan said it would be difficult to examine and report on more than six institutions before the interim report is due mid next year.

He warned the royal commission's start up had cost $22 million so far and its work would require "very significant" injections of public money.

Justice McClellan said the commission would not likely finish on the current schedule, as the task defined by the terms of reference was so large.

''However, I propose to use the time between now and the delivery of the interim report to complete as much of our task as we can.''

Justice McClellan said the commission would also be expensive because of the costs of setting up an IT system, setting up premises and travelling around the country.

''The work of the commission will continue to require the commitment of very significant sums of public money,'' he said.

Counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness, SC, said the types of institutions that would form part of the commission's investigations include orphanages, schools, churches, parishes, groups such as the scouts, organised sports, childcare centres, detention centres and the defence forces.

No date has yet been set for the next commission hearing.

Anthony and Christine Foster, whose daughters were raped by a priest while in primary school, said outside the commission that they were elated by the inquiry's opening statements.

"It is a huge task, but listening to what they've got planned, what they intend to do, fills me full of confidence," Mrs Foster said.

"I'm just so overwhelmed and happy that this is happening in our country."

Leonie Sheedy, spokeswoman for Care Leavers Australia Network which represents former state wards, said there were mixed feelings among abuse victims that only sexual abuse would be examined by the commission.

Ms Sheedy repeated calls for a reparations scheme, and said elderly victims could not wait years for justice.

"The royal commission is not a magic wand," she said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the royal commission was an important "moral moment'' for Australia.

''It is going to require our country to stare some very uncomfortable truths in the face,'' she told ABC radio.

The prime minister wants the commission to help victims of abuse, heal and provide recommendations for the future.

''For too long so many of these survivors have run into closed doors and closed minds.''

The commission would not pursue prosecutions but would be able to refer cases to police.

''Wrongdoers in my view should be brought to justice,'' Ms Gillard said, adding there was no danger the commission would become a witch hunt.