AUSTRALIA
The Australian
JOHN FERGUSON THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 24, 2013
THE Catholic Church in Victoria has received nearly 100 sex abuse complaints in the past financial year as the state’s inquiry into the issue appears to have prompted victims to seek redress after many years of silence.
There is now a growing body of evidence to suggest the overwhelming majority of cases relate to decades ago, suggesting that the church has faced, and dealt with, the worst of the scandal.
New figures show the church’s two dispute resolution processes have received 53 new complaints in Victoria in the past financial year related to the parliamentary investigation.
Of these, only seven people have referred the matters to police, underlining the reluctance of many victims to seek justice through the drawn-out process of the courts. A further 42 complaints were made directly to church entities, such as three religious orders and the dioceses that appeared before the inquiry.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.