VIC Report into Abuse "Dream Come True"

9 News
November 14, 2013

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/11/14/18/30/vic-report-into-abuse-dream-come-true

A Victorian parliamentary report recommending the Catholic Church be immediately made liable for child sex abuse has been welcomed as a "dream come true" by a victims group.

Nicky Davis of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said she never thought the issue would be taken seriously or that anything meaningful would be done.

"We're thrilled," she told AAP on Thursday.

"They've got to the bottom of the issue and they haven't held back from taking on what needs to be done."

She described the 15 major recommendations made in the report as "comprehensive", "innovative" and "groundbreaking".

Aside from compensating victims and making those who had long avoided responsibility accountable, implementing laws and standards suggested by the committee would encourage more people to report abuse, Ms Davis said.

"We have been taught by the response of church officials that they don't want us to come forward and they're not going to help us. So this report will change that situation."

Ms Davis also offered a recommendation of her own.

If church leaders "had any sense of morality" they would resign en masse, she told AAP.

"The current leadership and those coming up behind them are incapable of change and that is why it's so important that the management of these issues be taken out of their hands."

Greens MP David Shoebridge said there was no need for big changes to the church structure to provide compensation for victims.

"After all, when the church requires money to fund its expansion or purchases, it is able to access these funds," he told parliament.

"If they can do so, then victims should be able to do so too."

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell told the ABC he would consider enacting legislation similar to the recommendations of the Victorian report if there were gaps in NSW's existing laws.