AUSTRALIA
The Age
March 13, 2016
Cameron Houston and Chris Vedelago
Survivors of clergy abuse have accused the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne of stalling and obfuscation by delaying the release of an independent review of its own controversial compensation scheme.
The review of the Melbourne Response was announced by Archbishop Denis Hart in August 2014 following repeated claims at the royal commission that the church was primarily concerned with avoiding litigation and minimising payouts.
Archbishop Hart had vowed the findings by retired Federal Court Judge Donnell Ryan, QC, would be released by November 2014 and were expected to recommend a significant increase, or removal, of the $75,000 cap on compensation.
Fairfax Media can reveal that Mr Ryan submitted the review to Archbishop Hart on September 30, 2015, but that the report and its recommendations are yet to be made public.
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