AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street
Francis Sullivan | 07 November 2016
The announcement late last week by the Turnbull government that it will establish and run a national redress scheme for the survivors of institutional child sexual abuse is a great decision that has the potential to be one of the most significant social policy reforms in recent history.
Child with teddy bear observed by threatening adultFriday’s announcement has the potential to benefit tens of thousands of people now and into the future who have suffered the most damaging and tragic abuse — institutional child sexual abuse.
The estimates are jaw dropping, more than 60,000 children abused in hundreds of different institutions across Australia for many decades into the past.
But the new scheme will only be truly effective if all institutions and all governments accept their responsibilities and commit to participating.
The Catholic Church has a lot to answer for. For decades up to the 1990s and in some cases beyond, it systematically covered up child sex abuse by members of our clergy. It consistently put the interests of the church as an institution ahead of the welfare and safety of children. Their suffering has been compounded and for many, their lives shattered.
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