Royal Commission: Salvation Army Leader Cries While Apologising to Victims
By Thomas Oriti
A leader of the Salvation Army has cried while apologising to victims of child sexual abuse at boys homes run by the organisation. Commissioner James Condon is the leader of the Salvation Army's Eastern Territory, covering New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT. He has sat through two weeks of disturbing evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining abuse at four boys' homes in NSW and Queensland. Former residents of the homes say they were raped by Salvation Army officers and "rented out" for sex between the 1950s and the 1970s. The commissioner heard that whistleblowers were dismissed as liars and boys were bashed if they reported the abuse. Commissioner Condon says as the leader of the Salvation Army's Eastern Territory, he accepts responsibility. "I want to express our unreserved apology to all who were harmed in any way at all," he told the hearing in tears. "We are so sorry, deeply sorry, for every instance when children were sexually abused by our personnel while in our care. "We are so very sorry for each instance, where they felt unable to complain or for when they did, they were not believed." James Condon began to express emotion when he was asked about a decision in late January to suspend Major John McIver from the Salvation Army. The man denies sexually assaulting boys at homes in the Sydney suburb of Bexley and at Indooroopilly in Brisbane in the 1960s and 1970s. The Commissioner recalled receiving a recent message on the social media site Facebook from a man claiming to be a victim of Mr McIver. He cried as he recalled a resulting phone call, in which the man described his abuse. "In those repressive environments, evil and damaged people were able to get away with child sexual abuse for too long," Commissioner Condon said. "I think that is the Salvation Army's greatest failure. "The statements reveal that to its shame, the Army allowed some of its own policies to be ignored. "Every episode of child sexual abuse, excessive punishment, violence, neglect or verbal cruelty inflicted on a child in our care was wrong." Reputation 'not a priority' Commissioner Condon says the organisation no longer considers its reputation a priority when dealing with victims of child sexual abuse. He says the Salvation Army is trialling a policy, known as People First, to respond to victims of abuse. "The priority is the survivor, not protection of the Salvation Army," he told a hearing on Monday. As part of what Commissioner Condon calls a "restorative justice approach", survivors are "believed and respected" and asked to prepare a victim impact statement. The Salvation Army then pays for a counsellor of the victim's choice and the organisation's Professional Standards Office conducts an investigation. "We do not demand high levels of proof of claim, but simply seek to assess the validity and to rule out any false claims," Commission Condon said. Victims are handed an ex-gratia payment, the organisation pays further counselling costs and a "restorative meeting" is held with a senior ranking officer of the Salvation Army where an "unreserved apology" is given. A total of 133 people have gone through this process and received the payment, apology and counselling costs in the past 10 years. A further six have received an apology and counselling costs, and another person has received just an apology. In total, the Salvation Army has responded to 157 claims and some have been rejected. Commissioner Condon has been asked about the nature of the organisation's apologies to victims in recent years, with reference to a passage from the Salvation Army magazine that states the majority of officers have "shown great care and compassion". Counsel-assisting the royal commission Simeon Beckett has questioned whether some people might perceive the comment as shifting the blame. "Do you understand that some may express concern about that statement, in the sense that there is blame being apportioned to a small number of wrongdoings - as is indicated there - as opposed to responsibility of the organisation as a whole?" he asked. "It could be seen that way," the commissioner responded, adding that as a leader of the Salvation Army, he does feel responsible. Commission witnesses had not come forward before Commissioner Condon has pointed out to the hearing that some of the former residents who gave evidence to the public hearing were not known to the Salvation Army. "There has been a number of people - survivors from our children's homes - who have appeared here and given testimony, that had never come forward," he said. Chair of the royal commission Justice Peter McClellan suggested it was not that easy. "Do you have any perception that it may be difficult for some people to approach the army?" he asked. Commissioner Condon agreed, saying it was made clear during the course of the inquiry. "The very name, the uniform, an official, an employee, whatever - it brings up all sorts of painful memories," he said. 'Disgrace and shame' Another senior ranking officer with the Salvation Army says the inquiry has disgraced the organisation. Major Peter Farthing is co-ordinating the Salvation Army's response to the royal commission and also serves as the principal of the organisation's Booth training college in Sydney. Booth College sits on the site of the Bexley Boys Home. When he was sworn in on Friday, Major Farthing opted to take an oath of affirmation instead of an oath on the Bible. He admits that when victims began to come forward in the mid-1990s, the organisation's legal advice was flawed. "Our policy was: we will be compassionate, but we will not admit wrong," he told the inquiry. "So we won't say sorry and we won't make a payment unless the person can prove in court that the offence took place." Some lawyers and Salvation Army staff were soon dismissed, leading to what Major Farthing has described a "generational shift in thinking". Reflecting on the royal commission hearing, he said: "It's brought a great deal of disgrace and shame to the Salvation Army, which is felt by all of our people." He has conceded that the organisation is yet to formally discuss the decades of abuse at the hands of its officers.
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