AUSTRALIA
The Age
[Submissions – Parliament of Victoria]
November 6, 2012
Jane Lee
MOST of the evidence given to a state inquiry into child abuse has not been published more than a month after the deadline for submissions closed.
The committee of family and community development released 47 submissions on its website on October 10, ahead of its first hearing. They included statements from the Catholic Church and other religious groups, and a withering attack by Victoria Police on the church’s hindrance of its sexual abuse investigations since the 1950s.
But no further submissions have been published since, adding to scepticism over the inquiry’s effectiveness. Many critics are calling its six-member committee – which is due to report to Parliament in April – under-resourced and over-worked.
The committee has received hundreds of additional submissions since the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and non-government organisations was called in April. That followed years of campaigning by victims, advocates and media.
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