Money Drying up for Ballarat Child Sex Abuse Victims

By Tessa Akerman
The Australian
May 30, 2015

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The Ballarat diocese of the Catholic Church may not be able to continue funding settlements for ­child sex survivors, so great is the scale of the abuse.

At least 10 and possibly more than 14 diocesan priests from late last century have had complaints against them substantiated, the royal commission into child sex abuse heard yesterday.

Bishop of Ballarat Paul Bird said settlements to abuse survivors which are not covered by Catholic Church Insurance were paid from a bequest set up in the 1930s.

He said the fund had about $1 million left and once that was ­extinguished, claims would be paid from general ­accumulated funds of the diocese. “I do have doubts that we could meet those claims,” he said yesterday.

There was a development fund with more than $100m from various contributors which the diocese could draw upon, but the financial position of the diocese was “not strong” and many parishes required subsidies.