Inquiry Told Anglican Church Approach to Abuse Victims Was Antagonistic

By Emily Bourke
The ABC News
November 20, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-20/inquiry-told-anglican-church-approach-to-abuse/5106416?section=nsw

[with audio]

The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has been told that the Anglican Church took a hardline and antagonistic approach to dealing with abuse victims from the North Coast Children's Home. An advisor to the Anglican Primate of Australia told the inquiry that there was concern about how the diocese was handling the negotiations, but couldn't intervene.

MARK COLVIN: The child abuse Royal Commission has heard that the Anglican Church took a harsh and antagonistic approach to victims of abuse from the New South Wales North Coast Children's Home.

The inquiry's been told that the Grafton Diocese which ran the home took a legal hard line against compensation claims by the former residents of the orphanage.

The lawyer representing the group said the Grafton Diocese had "gone rogue" and the Church's key negotiator had "an attitude of machismo on par with Clint Eastwood."

A warning: some parts of Emily Bourke's report may distress some listeners.

EMILY BOURKE: The Royal Commission has heard more shocking accounts from survivors of abuse at the North Coast Children's home.

A statement from witness CN was read to the inquiry.

CN (read statement): I was raped three times by older boys who lived in the home. I was told and I heard other children being told by staff that we were dirty little heathens. I was told I was bad and horrible. I was made to feel worthless by the people in the home.

EMILY BOURKE: Decades later, CN sought compensation from the Anglican Church. That process was just as traumatic as her childhood.

CN (read statement): They were telling their congregation that they were doing everything they could to help the victims of the home. In the media they had people discrediting our story and said that they did not own and run the home. And to the lawyers they were outright denying legal responsibility.

I will not walk into a church again unless I have to because of both the abuse I suffered in the home and because of the way they handled the court case.

EMILY BOURKE: The lawyer representing CN and dozens of other former residents of the Lismore Children's Home was Simon Harrison.

He told the Commission that his clients were pushed to the point of self-harm and suicide as the compensation negotiations dragged on.

Mr Harrison was so concerned about the way the Grafton Diocese was handling the group claim that he wrote to the Primate of Australia, the Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall.

Dr Aspinall said he couldn't intervene and the matter was one for Grafton to resolve.

But lawyer Simon Harrison detailed just how the negotiations were being led by Reverend Pat Comben from the Grafton Diocese.

SIMON HARRISON: The Reverend Comben as I recall, when I walked into the room, was sitting on a chair with his hands behind his head and with his feet up, in which I interpreted as being something of a machismo role that he was trying to play out.

I put my hand across the table and shook hands with him, although the orphanage boy and the Celt in me felt like kicking the chair from underneath him, quite frankly. He was showing a level of disrespect that I've not come across in negotiations previously.

EMILY BOURKE: While the primate of Australia couldn't step in, he remained concerned.

Under questioning by Counsel Assisting, Simeon Beckett, one of the primate's advisers, Rodney McLary, said the Grafton approach to victims was lacking.

RODNEY MCLARY: I think to take an adversarial approach to the challenging their story from the beginning is a very threatening and traumatising process.

EMILY BOURKE: A settlement was eventually reached but it was too late for others who came forward. The Inquiry was told that, by that stage, the Diocese was "mortgaged to the hilt".

The current registrar and general manager of the Grafton's Diocese is Anthony Newby.

ANTHONY NEWBY: I can't recall exactly who said the word but my understanding was that it was a one-time deal.

SIMEON BECKETT: Does that mean that people who came along after the group claim had been settled would not be able to obtain the same settlement that the group claimants had obtained?

ANTHONY NEWBY: My understanding was from discussions that a pastoral approach was preferred.

SIMEON BECKETT: That did not include a financial compensation element. Is that correct?

ANTHONY NEWBY: That's correct.

SIMEON BECKETT: Now, did it strike you as odd that there appeared to be two different ways in which these claims could be dealt with?

ANTHONY NEWBY: Yes, it did.

EMILY BOURKE: The Royal Commission was also told that compensation payouts to victims are largely determined by the size and wealth of an individual diocese and that victims can be unfairly disadvantaged if they come forward to a diocese that's under financial strain.

MARK COLVIN: Emily Bourke.