Catholic Church Set to Be Sued by Dozens of Victims of Clerical Abuse

By Cameron Houston & Tammy Mills
The Age
October 30, 2018

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/catholic-church-set-to-be-sued-by-dozens-of-victims-of-clerical-abuse-20181030-p50cyk.html

The Catholic Church is about to be inundated with Supreme Court writs from Victorian survivors of clerical abuse who previously received modest ex gratia payments and will now attempt to sue the church for further compensation.

At least four Melbourne law firms have been briefed by dozens of victims seeking to challenge the validity of church settlements on the basis that payments were manifestly inadequate for the long-term suffering inflicted by paedophile priests.

They also argue that some previous deeds of release, which prevented survivors from taking legal action again, should be scrapped when the church had not acted in good faith by concealing its knowledge of serial abusers.

The Age can also reveal that shadow attorney-general John Pesutto will consider introducing legislation to have unfair compensation deals set aside, if his party wins next month's election.

"For all victims, the legal settlement of claims needs be reached on a fair and informed basis," Mr Pesutto said. "Where past settlements were reached as a result of misleading, coercive or other improper conduct, we are prepared to consider legislating if necessary to make clear those settlements can be set aside.”

Attorney-General Martin Pakula said he had asked the Justice Department to look at laws in Queeensland allowing deeds of settlement to be set aside.

The Age revealed on Monday that a former Geelong Grammar student abused by a teacher had received a landmark $1.1 million settlement. The victim had originally settled for $32,000 in 1998, but his lawyers recently argued the deed was void because the school had known for years about the teacher’s predatory behaviour and covered it up.

Some of those planning to launch civil action against the church are victims of notorious paedophiles such as Brother Edward Dowlan, a member of the Christian Brothers order. He was banished from St Patrick’s College in Ballarat in 1974 for abusing boys and went on to assault children at four other schools over 14 years.

Convicted paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.

Several victims of paedophile Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale are also mounting legal cases against the Ballarat Archdiocese over his appalling offending at St Alipius Primary School for more than two decades.

Melbourne lawyer Kim Price, from Arnold Thomas & Becker, confirmed he was working for a "large number of victims of Catholic Church abuse, many of whom have previously entered into so-called settlements for pitiful amounts in which the church denied liability".

"Through the child abuse royal commission and information sharing amongst lawyers, it has become apparent that in many settlements the church did not divulge the full extent of its knowledge about its paedophile priests and its own gross failures." Mr Price said.

He said he was preparing applications to ask the Supreme Court to scrutinise and set aside the validity of historic settlements by the Catholic Church.

One survivor, who was sexually assaulted at an eastern suburbs parish in the 1970s confirmed he would challenge a settlement made by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne under its compensation scheme known as the Melbourne Response.

Under the scheme, compensation payments were capped at $50,000, which was eventually raised to $75,000, with victims receiving an average payout of $36,100.

In 2016, then Archbishop Denis Hart pledged to double potential compensation payments to $150,000.

"The money offered to me many years ago was totally inadequate and does not in any way reflect the permanent suffering and damage I have suffered since I was a teenager," the survivor said.

"He [the priest] was a serial offender and the church should have been aware of his offending."

Legal action is also expected to come from firms Judy Courtin Legal and Rightside Legal, which handled the Geelong Grammar settlement.

It is understood that other religious orders, including the Anglican Church, will also be the subject of litigation by abuse victims.

Victoria was the first jurisdiction to abolish time limits on when a victim could sue. The government also recently repealed the Ellis defence, which provided a legal entity for victims of the church to sue.

Western Australia amended legislation covering deeds of settlement in July, thereby paving the way for a $1 million settlement against the Christian Brothers for 74-year-old victim Paul Bradshaw. Mr Bradshaw, represented by Rightside Legal, had been battling prostate cancer and died on Tuesday.

“The WA experience shows what an actual practical difference this change in the law can make,” his lawyer, Michael Magazanik, said.

The Archdiocese of Melbourne was contacted for comment.