AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn
03 October 2013
The Catholic Church is developing a reform agenda, including wide-ranging independent input, as part of an overhaul of its approach to clerical sexual abuse.
Chief executive officer of the Truth Justice and Healing Council Francis Sullivan said the reforms would be presented to Church leaders in the first half of next year and could be put in place late next year.
The reform proposals are outlined in the Truth Justice and Healing Council’s Towards Healing submission to the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
“These proposals recognise that we must do better when we are dealing with victims of sexual abuse and as we work to make sure our institutions are as safe as possibly for children,” Mr Sullivan said.
The proposals include:
* Appointing independent compensation commissioners to determine payments to victims who go through the victim response process known as Towards Healing. This would separate the pastoral responses in Towards Healing from the determination of financial payments.
* Appointing lay and independent experts to strengthen the Church’s National Committee of Professional Standards.
* Introducing an independent national board to develop and administer national child protection standards. The board would monitor adherence to these standards and publicly report on compliance. It would also provide more rigorous assessment, monitoring, auditing and enforcement of Towards Healing practices.
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