An inquiry has been set up to find out if there was misconduct by New South Wales police in dealings with the Catholic Church over abuse complaints.
The Police Integrity Commission in New South Wales will conduct a public hearing in Sydney on October 13.
The investigation was ordered after the ABC and a Green MP found a formal arrangement might have been made between the Church and police on handling abuse complaints.
Last year, the ABC’s Lateline reported accusations that the Church tried to strike a formal arrangement with police over how to handle allegations and what information would be handed over for investigation.
There are questions over whether a memorandum of understanding was ever signed, approved or even in operation.
Based on police documents accessed under freedom of information law, MP David Shoebridge said he was sure a formal agreement was in place.
At the heart of the investigation is an arrangement that occurred between 1998 and 2005.
NSW police agreed to a Church request to second a senior serving police officer on to the Church’s Professional Standards Resource Group.
The officer was there to give advice about risks and potential concerns within the Church’s operations.
According to the freedom of information material, Church leaders thought they had struck an MOU with police.
NSW Police deny this MOU was ever in place. They say it was never signed off on and was only in draft form.
The Church required that all minutes of the group be shredded and not retained by police, and the police complied.
While it might be argued that such cooperation enabled an exchange of intelligence, Mr Shoebridge said it was difficult to justify such an arrangement.
“There is a fundamental problem when you effectively co-opt the police into your own internal inquiries,” he said.
The Catholic Church argues it acted in good faith, and wanted these arrangements to ensure there was no risk to children in their care.
The Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council welcomed the PIC’s inquiry.
But at least one commentator said what needs to be clarified is whether the Church set up these arrangements so they could not be prosecuted under new mandatory reporting laws in NSW.
The investigation will look at possible police misconduct and whether an arrangement or agreement existed.
Sources
- Sydney Morning Herald
- ABC
- ABC
- Image: TNT Magazine
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