The National Catholic Safeguarding Standards were adopted on May 30.

"These National Catholic Safeguarding Standards draw from the Child Safe Standards outlined during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, but they provide additional criteria relevant to the governance of the Church," Sr. Monica Cavanagh, president of CRA, stated. Read more

It is presently reviewing the clerical and hierarchical models that have failed dioceses and parishes during the ongoing child sex abuse crisis.

Collegial models would see the significant participation of laypeople says Jack de Groot, who is a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference and Catholic Religious Australia six-person review committee.

De Groot says this would enable leveraging lay people's expertise and would aim to bring gender parity to the running of the church in a country that has been at the forefront of dealing with child sex abuse.

He thinks it is clear that the current model of church governance does not work.

"There are tensions in finding a governance model, in the Gospel imperative of looking after the poorest of the poor, the most marginalised people in society and how we do this within financial best practice and by offering the best in class in terms of quality and impact," he says.

He notes it all must be done "with accountability and with a view to what is the right thing to do consistently".

"The review is about how do we bring more accountability, more transparency into the process of decision-making - and critically about who participates in that decision-making ," he says.

"We need the best of governance in corporate and government institutions and more," he said. "As we change things, we have to bring people along, but the work has really already begun in areas like safeguarding. People have instituted good practices ... that take safeguarding seriously and diligently."

De Groot says the review is the Church's first major move to implement the recommendations of Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

The Royal Commission criticised the Catholic Church, other religious groups and both state and non-state secular organisations and institutions.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: YouTube

The Church has committed to taking part in the new nationwide scheme.

"We support the Royal Commission's [into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse] recommendation for a national redress scheme, administered by the Commonwealth, and we are keen to participate," Archbishop Mark Coleridge says.

Coleridge is the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

"Survivors deserve justice and healing and many have bravely come forward to tell their stories," he said in a joint statement with Catholic Religious Australia (CRA).

Australia's Royal Commission found 7 per cent of Australia's Catholic priests were accused of abusing children in the six decades since 1950.

It also found up to 15 per cent of priests in some dioceses were alleged perpetrators between 1950 and 2015.

Almost 2,500 survivors told the Commission about sexual abuse in an institution managed by the Catholic church.

They represent 61.8 per cent of all survivors who reported sexual abuse in a religious institution.

The redress scheme, which is currently before parliament, is likely to begin on 1 July and will last for 10 years.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said if all states and institutions across Australia opt in, the scheme could provide support to around 60,000 people.

At present all states except Western Australia have signed up to the scheme, which will enable survivors to be paid up to A$150,000.

CRA president Ruth Durick said while she recognised redress will not take away a survivor's pain, CRA (representing over 130 congregations) hopes it "... can provide some practical assistance in the journey toward recovery from abuse."

Redress is offered as an alternative to taking compensation through the courts.

It can include access to psychological counselling, a direct personal response such as an apology from the responsible institution for people who want it, and a monetary payment.

Dr Judy Courtin, a lawyer who has helped survivors pursue redress through institutions and the courts, said it made sense that major religious institutions had agreed to sign on to the scheme.

"It will be cheaper for them to pay many survivors the $150,000 cap rather than risk survivors taking them to court, where a court might find they are entitled to much more," she said.

"Most religious institutions will ultimately agree to join because doing so will be saving them money."

Source

• BBC
• The Guardian
• Reuters
• Image: TRT World

"A committee is being formed — I don't know all the details about it — but there is going to be a process where there are a number of people, a larger number of people, who are not religious or bishops, who are involved in taking the process forward," said Sister Annette Cunliffe, RSC.

"They are the experts. The bishops and archbishops and ourselves are not as skillful and perhaps we're too close to the problem,"

Sister Annette is president of Catholic Religious Australia, which represents the leaders of 180 religious orders and congregations. She was speaking in an ABC television interview.

Her organisation earlier joined the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference in welcoming Prime Minister Julia Gillard's establishment of a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia.

Sister Annette described recent public statements by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, as too defensive and said a new way in dealing with abuse claims was needed to move forward.

"I think I hope that we are looking at greater openness and less defensiveness, so that we can open this crime to the light of day to what God would want of truth and honesty," she said.

Sister Annette said it was time for a new era in the Catholic Church where families no longer felt betrayed, and those doing good work for the poor and disadvantaged could hold their heads up high again.

"Hopefully [this will be] the beginning of a new era of openness and of collaboration within the whole Church to ensure that as far as possible, this does not happen again."

Sources:

ABC

Catholic Religious Australia

Image: ABC