By a Broken Rites researcher

• Article updated 15 October 2012

One Australian state — Victoria — has asked a parliamentary committee to investigate how churches (and other religious organisations) have handled (or mis-handled) the reporting of church child-abuse.

Broken Rites Australia has made two written submissions to the inquiry:

• One member of the Broken Rites research team has submitted a list of Broken Rites cases in Victoria, demonstrating how the Catholic Church has concealed the church's child-sex crimes. Thus, the church authorities have aided and abetted these crimes. You can read this submission here.

• Another member of the Broken Rites research team has submitted a comprehensive survey of the issue of church child-abuse. You can read this submission here.

The official title of this parliamentary investigation is "an Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations". Therefore, the word "handling" has given Broken Rites an opportunity to highlight the church authorities' cover-up.

Traditionally, the church culture has intimidated the child-victims into remaining silent, and typically this silence has continued for many years until the victim reaches adulthood (or perhaps until after the victim's parents have died). And if a victim finally complains to the church authorities, the church's response is often evasive and defensive.

The committee's focus

• The causes and effects of criminal abuse within religious and other non-government organisations.

• Whether victims were in any way discouraged from reporting such abuse, either within the relevant organisation or to the police.

• If such abuse was reported (to the organisation or to the police), how the reporting of their experience of abuse was handled.

• The consequences of abuse, including the effect on the victims and others.

• The adequacy of the policies, procedures and practices within religious and other non-government organisations that relate to the prevention of, and response to, child abuse.

• Suggestions for reform, to help prevent abuse and ensure that allegations of abuse are properly dealt with. This includes reforms to Victorian laws and reforms to the policies, procedures and practices within religious and other non-government organisations.

Limitations of the inquiry

The inquiry is being conducted by a small group of junior members of parliament, as an addition to this committee's existing considerable workload. That is, as well as conducting this inquiry, these parliamentarians will have to continue administering their local office in their electorate and they will have to attend the normal sittings of the State Parliament.

The Victorian Government has requested the committee to report to the Parliament no later than 30 April 2013.

When the committee’s guidelines were released (belatedly) on 12 July 2012, the inquiry was already three months into the year allocated to it, and the work of the inquiry had yet to begin. Written submissions closed on 21 September 2012. This gives the committee only six months to prepare its report to parliament to meet the deadline of 30 April 2013.

Despite the limited nature of the inquiry, Broken Rites believes that it gives victims and their advocates an opportunity to inform the public about church sex-crimes and church cover-ups.

Committee's contact details

Email:
fcdc@parliament.vic.gov.au

Phone:
03 8682 2843

Further reading

A list of some other written submissions can be seen here.

Details of the committee's public hearings can be seen here.