AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: At the Royal Commission into child sex abuse Cardinal George Pell has defended the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s controversial victims’ compensation scheme known as the Melbourne Response.
Giving evidence via video link from Rome, the Cardinal said the scheme he set up was an Australian-first and victims were its first priority.
Samantha Donovan reports.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Victims of clerical sexual abuse have told the royal commission the Melbourne Response gave them inadequate compensation, took away their legal rights to sue, lacked compassion and was intimidating.
But the man who set up the scheme 18 years ago, Cardinal George Pell, gave evidence from Rome that the victims were his priority.
GEORGE PELL: We were ahead of the curve. Not sure there was any other system in Australia, perhaps anywhere else, we were certainly no less generous.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Sean Cash, the barrister acting for abuse victim Paul Hersbach, didn’t accept Cardinal Pell’s claim that money wasn’t his main concern when setting up the Melbourne Response.
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.