Knox victims struggle for justice amid drawn-out litigation with church

By Natasha Robinson
Australian
March 09, 2015

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/knox-victims-struggle-for-justice-amid-drawn-out-litigation-with-church/story-fngburq5-1227254120702

LAWYERS for the church property trust that controls the assets of Knox Grammar were subjecting victims of sex abuse to drawn-out litigation and aggressive legal tactics in an attempt to limit damages payments even as the royal commission was investigating the elite Sydney independent school.

Solicitor Ross Koffel, a Knox old boy who also sent his son to the private school on Sydney’s north shore, is representing a host of claimants against Knox.

A large number of inquiries have been received by Sydney solic­itors following hearings by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Last week, the commission wrapped up a fortnight of hearings examining how Knox responded to allegations of child sexual abuse by teachers employed at the school between 1970 and 2009.

Mr Koffel told The Australian that Knox Grammar, via the Uniting Church entity that controls its assets — the Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust — had fought sex-abuse victims’ compensation claims “in the most robust way possible”.