AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail
JAMES CAMPBELL HERALD SUN NOVEMBER 08, 2013
CLERGY who fail to report child abuse by their colleagues should face jail, a landmark state parliamentary inquiry is set to recommend.
After more than 160 hearings over nine months, Australia’s first parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations will table its findings next week.
The findings of the committee, which considered more than 400 submissions, are scathing of the Catholic Church’s actions over several decades, sources have told the Herald Sun.
The committee will recommend a new criminal offence be created for ministers of religion who fail to report physical or sexual abuse of children by other clergy.
The inquiry was set up following 2011’s inquiry into the child protection system by retired Supreme Court judge Philip Cummins.
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