Melbourne Archbishop to Discuss Removing Abuse Victim Payment Cap

ABC
March 28, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2014/s3974180.htm

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The parents of two abuse victims say they want the Catholic Church to act urgently to remove a cap on payment to abuse victims.

Anthony and Chrissie Foster say Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, this week personally promised them that the $75,000 cap would be abolished.

But the couple say they have heard nothing from the Archbishop of Melbourne, the man responsible for actually making the change.

Cardinal Pell this week publicly apologised to a victim of child sexual abuse, saying the Catholic Church failed in its moral and pastoral responsibilities.

Alison Caldwell reports.

ALISON CALDWELL: It was the news Anthony and Chrissie Foster had been waiting for for 18 years; that the Catholic Church would remove the cap on payments to victims of child sexual abuse.

It now stands at $75,000.

Anthony Foster says he got a commitment from Cardinal George Pell during a meeting on Thursday night.

ANTHONY FRASER: We wanted the cap removed from the Melbourne response. The cap is the limiting feature that stops the compensation panel awarding any more than now $75,000 - it used to be $50,000.

He agreed to simply change the Melbourne response, because we need these changes now.

ALISON CALDWELL: How did he respond to that?

ANTHONY FRASER: He responded affirmatively. I said to him, "this will cost the Melbourne Archdiocese many hundreds of millions of dollars." And he looked me in the eye, nodded and agreed, and said yes.

ALISON CALDWELL: Anthony and Chrissie Foster's two daughters were abused by their local priest.

Emma took her own life and Katie was left disabled after an accident related to her abuse.

The first time the Fosters met with the then Archbishop of Melbourne, George Pell, they emerged rejected.

But on Thursday night, Anthony Foster says he recognised a transformation in the man.

ANTHONY FRASER: The tone of the meeting was so different to that first meeting that we had with Cardinal Pell so many years ago. The result that he gave us out of this meeting was what we wanted 18 years ago. It's taken that long to get him to this position.

We came out of that meeting euphoric that we'd achieved something that we'd been fighting for for so many years.

This is a great step forward. And very sadly we lost Emma in 2008 but we've continued the fight because there are so many other victims out there. To all of them listening, this is for them. And this is what we would like to be known as the Emma Response, because the Melbourne response turned around to be doing what should have been done for Emma all those years ago.

ALISON CALDWELL: The news is significant for all the survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

What happens next depends on the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart. He met with Cardinal Pell at the Cardinal's farewell dinner in Sydney on Thursday night.

But in a statement released last night, Archbishop Hart said he hadn't had an opportunity to discuss any details with Cardinal Pell. He said the Cardinal did inform him that the Fosters wished to meet with him and he welcomed the opportunity.

ANTHONY FRASER: Surprises me that they haven't talked about it, and it disappoints me that Archbishop Hart hasn't contacted us directly, given the enormity of the issue.

ALISON CALDWELL: Lawyer Angela Sdrinis has worked with many victims of child sexual abuse.

She says legislation will be needed to guarantee any changes.

ANGELA SDRINIS: Even though this seems to be a gesture of goodwill, which I welcome, unless the changes are supported by legislation or unless there is some independent body which can oversight negotiations with the Church, victims will still be relying upon the Church's goodwill. If they're not happy with the re-opening of the process, they've still got nowhere to go.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That's lawyer Angela Sdirinis, ending that report from Alison Caldwell.