AUSTRALIA
ABC News
[with audio]
The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has had an overwhelming response, prompting the chairman to call for an additional 100 staff members to handle a growing work load. In the first seven months, the commission has recieved more than 6,000 phone calls and nearly 3,500 written inquiries. Justice Peter McClellan says he believes many more private sessions with abuse victims will be held as the commissioners continue to gather evidence.
Transcript
ELEANOR HALL: The chair of the National Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has appealed for more staff to deal with the enormous challenge of taking evidence from abuse victims.
Justice Peter McClellan told a conference in Melbourne that the commission has been inundated with people wanting to tell their stories.
He says he now realises that if the commission is to properly bear witness to child abuse across Australia, he needs more staff.
In Melbourne, Sarah Farnsworth reports.
SARAH FARNSWORTH: When the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was set up, the laws were changed to allow people to tell their stories in private sessions.
In a rare speech, the chair of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan, says those sessions have given a clear picture of the harrowing and traumatic experiences suffered by many.
PETER MCCLELLAN: It is not uncommon for men of my own age to break down and weep when describing the trauma of their childhood. For some it is the first time they have been able to tell anyone of their personal story.
It is common for them to report not only a sexual abuse, but extraordinary levels of physical abuse and psychological trauma.
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.