AUSTRALIA
The Age
Jane Lee
The Melbourne Archdiocese has rejected a recommendation that it extend its internal compensation scheme to secondary victims of child sexual abuse, including to parents and children of abuse.
Survivors of clergy abuse have long criticised the scheme – established by Cardinal George Pell in 1996 – for failing to properly compensate them for life-long trauma and in some cases adding to it. They also say that the church awards greater compensation when victims launch lawsuits.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart announced in April 2014 that he had appointed former Federal Court judge Donnell Ryan, QC, to review the Melbourne Response, the church’s internal compensation scheme for victims while giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Despite receiving Mr Ryan’s report four months later, the archdiocese only tendered its recommendations to the royal commission last week.
Last November, the church revealed it would double the payment cap from $75,000 to $150,000 and previously agreed to review past claims.
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