I am thinking now that I have to speak very gently. I need to tread warily and allow you the chance to absorb what I want to say. There are things that can tear us apart. There are people who are more interested in turning us on each other. It is so easy to distort Read more
Weeks after Scott Morrison became immigration minister in September 2013, a 17-year-old Iraqi boy at the Manus Island detention centre alleged he was “on a list” of a group of Iranian men who planned to gang rape him. He was moved to another compound, but lived in fear at the camp until three months later, Read more
Over the last few months, I have been completing a Masters in International Criminal Law at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in Turin, Italy. Over the last two weeks, our classes revolved around human rights — always a bit of a cringeworthy topic when one comes from Australia. Cringeworthy, because Read more
An Australian Christian couple has vowed to divorce if Australia allows same-sex couples to marry. Nick and Sarah Jensen believe that widening the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples would threaten the sacred nature of the union. They also fear it would leave the door open for polygamy. The Jensens have been happily married Read more
The Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations is pushing for the nation’s minimum wage to be increased by A$28.70 a week. The Catholic council lodged a claim in Australia’s Fair Work Commission that the national minimum wage be set at A$669.60 a week. The council’s proposed increase is more than double the amount major employer Read more
The Catholic Church in Australia set aside tens of millions of dollars to compensate sexual abuse victims years before it publicly admitted the problem. The Sunday Age reported that a warning was issued by a church insurer to the nation’s bishops as early as 1988. This was more than seven years before the Melbourne Response Read more
A Catholic Church spokesman is surprised at the Australian government’s rejection of a proposed national compensation scheme for child sex abuse victims. The Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council chief, Francis Sullivan, said this to a royal commission hearing last week. Mr Sullivan said the Church supported a national scheme administered by the federal government Read more
Anthony Fisher, the new Archbishop of Sydney, is at odds with the Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council. In an opinion piece in the Australian newspaper, Monday, Archbishop Fisher seemed to distance himself from the Council’s view that “Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances”. The Truth Justice and Healing Council Read more
A report from the Australian Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council into sexual abuse has linked priestly celibacy and child abuse. It is the first time the Church has made such a link. However the finding is not a first step to ending celibacy for priests. The 40 page report touches briefly on celibacy, saying “Obligatory celibacy may also Read more
Nine mosques in Australia will open their doors to the public later this month in an effort to help overcome prejudices and misunderstandings. The first national mosque open day, to be held on October 25, will see non-Muslims invited to take tours of mosques and to ask questions of Islamic leaders. It will be followed Read more