NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
June 10, 2018
By Angelique Lu and Rachael Jones
The 11-year battle to close a legal loophole in New South Wales that prevented abuse survivors from suing churches and other institutions is coming to an end.
Barriers preventing victims from seeking justice will be removed based on recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse.
John Ellis, a former altar boy, had waited years before deciding to sue the Catholic Church for abuse he had suffered at the hands of a priest.
By the time he decided to take legal action in 2002, by this stage a lawyer himself, he had no-one to sue.
The priest responsible for the crimes had died, and the Archbishop of Sydney was not considered responsible for the actions of his predecessor.
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