Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

In July 2012, John Pirona, a victim of notorious priest Father John Denham, took his own life. Pirona left a note that said "Too Much Pain".[19] The prime minister, Julia Gillard, visited Newcastle on 8 August 2012, the day of Pirona's funeral, where mourners backed The Newcastle Herald's "Shine the Light" campaign for a royal commission.

Journalist Joanne McCarthy's report on Pirona's death and clergy abuse in the Maitland–Newcastle diocese was the catalyst for the "Shine the Light" campaign that would ultimately lead to the royal commission.[20]

In November 2012, Peter Fox, a senior detective in the NSW Police, revealed that he was stood down from investigating child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy while he was compiling "explosive" evidence from a key witness and that "the church covers up, silences victims, hinders police investigations, alerts offenders, destroys evidence and moves priests to protect the good name of the church".[21][22]

Fox went public with his allegations in November 2012, when he spoke about the "evil of paedophilia within the Catholic Church".[23]

On 9 November 2012, the Premier of New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell, announced the appointment of a special commission of inquiry into allegations raised about police handling of abuse by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church in the Hunter region. The commission was headed by Margaret Cunneen.[24] The Special Commission inquiry centred around internal church documents obtained by Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy, that revealed a group of senior clergy allegedly attempting to conceal the crimes of Father Denis McAlinden, a prolific paedophile.[25]

The inquiry found that Fox was not a credible witness, prone to exaggeration and his evidence must be "approached with caution".[26][27][28] The report also found that senior Catholic Church officials, including former Bishop Leo Clarke, withheld information from police.[29]

On 12 November 2012, the prime minister, Julia Gillard, announced that she would be recommending to the governor-general the creation of a royal commission.[2][6][30] On 19 November 2012, federal attorney-general Nicola Roxon and the acting minister for families, Brendan O'Connor,[31] released a consultation paper seeking input into the commission's scope of the terms of reference, how the Commonwealth and the states and territories would work together, the number of commissioners and suggested areas of expertise, the proposed timetable and reporting requirements.[32]

Archbishop Denis Hart, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, stated that he welcomed and promised co-operation with a Royal Commission to broadly investigate child sexual abuse in institutions across Australia. The Australian Bishops Conference said that "talk of a systemic problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is ill-founded and inconsistent with the facts",[33]

Cardinal George Pell stated that he hoped the royal commission would stop a "smear campaign" against the Catholic Church.[34][35]

During a press conference held on 13 November 2012, Cardinal Pell voiced his support for the royal commission and welcomed the opportunity to help victims and clear the air.[33] Responding to Pell's press conference, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson described Pell as a "great embarrassment to me and to a lot of good Catholic people".[36]

In the Hunter region of New South Wales, it was alleged that a former member of Scouts Australia, suspended from the organisation for abusing two Scouts in the 1990s, was employed as the chief executive officer of an Aboriginal child welfare agency two months prior to the formal introduction of working-with-children checks. In testimony before the commission in September 2013, it was revealed that the applicant's suitability for the role may have been assessed by relatively junior staff;[123] and that he later falsified his working-with-children check. It was alleged that the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS) gave the man permission to have a 17-year-old boy, whom he was grooming for sex, live with him.[124] A former CEO of Scouts Australia testified that during his three years in the job, he dealt with ten allegations of child sexual abuse. He admitted a number of children were sexually abused or harmed and said the Scouts failed them. The commission heard testimony from two victims who spoke of the profound effect the sexual abuse had on their lives.[125]

The first published case study of the royal commission dealt with the response of institutions to the conduct of Steven Larkins, who occupied positions of responsibility in Scouts Australia NSW and in the Hunter Aboriginal Children's Service. Larkins was prosecuted in 2012 for offences he had committed 15 years earlier, and was convicted and imprisoned.[126]

Between October 2013 and January 2014, the commission heard evidence that there were systemic failures by management within YMCA NSW[127] after a worker was hired to work at a YMCA child care centre located in Caringbah in southern Sydney without the appropriate background checks.[128] The former worker, Jonathan Luke Lord, has since been convicted of offences relating to the abuse of twelve boys in his care, some as young as six.[129][130] On 18 January 2013, Lord was sentenced to 10 years and a non-parole period of 6 years. He was sentenced for 13 offences involving 12 children and another 16 offences were taken into account.[131][132]

Following evidence presented before the commission, the NSW Department of Education and Communities wrote to the Chief Executive Officer of YMCA NSW and issued a compliance notice that set out strict conditions for continuation of the YMCA's childcare licence.[129] The Chief Executive Officer of YMCA NSW testified before the commission about the impact of crimes that occurred on YMCA NSW premises.[128]

(The perpetrator)... was an insidious and deceitful individual, who was grooming not only children and parents but the YMCA itself. He gained the trust of the children, the parents and the fellow staff members to really get close to these children. (He would) go so far as to open the childcare centre for a parent who had to start work early. (He) went above and beyond to help out parents. We've got staff who are struggling to comfort children that come to them distressed because it might be seen as grooming practices. So (his) impacts have been devastating.

— Phillip Hare, Chief Executive Officer of YMCA NSW; testimony given in 2013.

Case Studies 4, 8, and 31 inquired into the Catholic Church's Towards Healing program and the Church's responses. Hearing 8 also focused on Ellis' experience in civil litigation.[133] The program received criticism from at least one abuse victim who claimed it delayed reporting her complaint.[134]

In January 2014 the commission began investigating allegations of sexual and physical abuse of children at four boys' homes run by the Salvation Army. The homes examined by the commission were the Bexley Boys Home in Sydney, the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn in southern New South Wales, the Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly in Brisbane and the Riverview Training Farm at Riverview in Queensland. The commission heard testimony from two Salvation Army whistleblowers about allegations of child abuse between 1973 and 1975. The officers testified that they witnessed a boy had his arm dislocated during a beating by another Salvation Army officer. The Salvation Army banned the husband and wife whistleblowers from talking to other alleged victims of child abuse and dismissed them from their position as "house parents" at the Alkira home.[135] When the whistleblowers complained to the Queensland Department of Children's Services, they were labelled troublemakers.[136] The officer at the centre of the allegations had previously worked at the Bexley home from 1968; and then was the manager of the Alkira home between 1974 and 1976. The Salvation Army moved the alleged perpetrator to another Salvation Army service where he was promoted in rank.[137] Following the allegations raised at the royal commission, the Salvation Army suspended the officer at the centre of the allegations. The officer concerned did not attended the commission's hearings but the inquiry has been told he refutes the allegations of sexual abuse.[138] The inquiry heard that officers were moved interstate if they were accused of child sexual abuse. One officer was dismissed from the Salvation Army in 2005 due to allegations of child sexual abuse.[137] The whistleblowers testified that boys at the home were used for alleged sexual exploitation and were allegedly subject to physical abuse.[135]

"They were given drink and chocolates, well, they were used that day in Brisbane and the next day they were sent down to Sydney ... (Another officer) told me the boys were useless and bad, and it had to be drummed into them that rules are rules."

— Major Cliff Randall, testimony from a Salvation Army whistleblower, 2014.

Witnesses who testified included alleged victims of child abuse. A male witness told the royal commission that while at the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn, aged 12 years, he was regularly sexually abused by a Salvation Army officer.[139]

"... (I was abused) ... at least four out of every seven days. Many times he would drag me out of bed at 3am for allegedly making a noise, ... He would punish me by taking me down to the bathrooms and making me scrub the toilets with a toothbrush. I was always there on my own. He would then sexually abuse me and send me back to bed at 5am. I would then have to get up at 6am to start my chores ... (He) flogged me when we got back for telling lies. He hit me with his open palm on my head, chest, arms and upper body."

— A victim of alleged child abuse at the Gill Memorial Home, Goulburn; testimony given in 2014.

In December 2014, the Commission hearing examined allegations into the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales of child sexual abuse by the ashram's former spiritual leader Swami Akhandananda Saraswati in the 1970s and 1980s.[140] It found that Akhandananda, who was director of the ashram, had sexually abused children in his care, eleven of whom served as witnesses to the Royal Commission. In 1989 Akhandananda was sentenced to two years and four months of imprisonment; his conviction was overturned in 1991.[141] The Ashram issued an acknowledgement and apology to the survivors of Akhandananda's sexual abuse. The apology and acknowledgement stated that the ashram accepted that the child sexual abuse did occur, and that the organisation had not responded in a way that was helpful to victims.[142]

Testimony by victims of sexual abuse at two Chabad schools, Yeshiva in Melbourne and Yeshiva in Bondi, and school officials was given at the Commission. Witnesses included Manny Waks and his father. Several Chabad rabbis were found to have been publicly sermonizing that it was religiously forbidden to report child sex abuse to the police. The prohibition against reporting a fellow Jew to the authorities is referred to as Mesirah[143][144] As of 1 September 2015, four Chabad Rabbis had resigned in relation to the controversy.[145] As a consequence of the revelations, one Chabad institution's Committee of Management was to be replaced and to have its Board of Trustees disbanded.[146]

Witnesses noted that not only were victims of abuse not protected, but those who reported abuse to the rabbis were shunned as "mosers" who commit "mesirah". The schools were accused of covering up multiple claims of sexual abuse at their institutions in the 1980s and 1990s,[144][147] and of retaliating against whistleblowers and victims.[143][147]

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick was called to testify. He said, "I believe the cover-ups and bullying and intimidation that has gone on ... represents the antithesis of the teachings of Chabad and Judaism and orthodoxy."[148] He acknowledged that the Orthodox Chabad community in Australia was guilty of covering up sex crimes committed in the community, and pressuring victims and their families not to report the crimes to the police. Gutnick said that people reporting abuse were ostracized mosers ("informers"). He said "a culture of cover-up, often couched in religious terms, pervaded our thinking and our actions." He said that rabbis in these situations had misused their power, and that anyone who insists a child sexual abuse victim should go first to a rabbi rather than the police is not doing so out of religious reasons but trying to "hush it up, to cover it up, to prevent the victim from finding redress. There is no doubt at all: Mesirah ['informing'] has no application whatsoever to instances of child sexual abuse. To use mesirah in this way is an abomination." Gutnick also lamented that there was no formal training for rabbis on how to handle reported abuse.

Manny Waks, an advocate for victims, said, "Today, Rabbi Moshe Gutnick restored my faith in ultra-Orthodox Judaism. For the first time ever the reform that is so critical seems much closer. Thank you Rabbi Gutnick. Hopefully the rest of the Orthodox Rabbinate will now follow suit. What an incredible day for justice."[149]

On 23 February 2015 the commission started hearings[92] concerning the response of Knox Grammar School and the Uniting Church in Australia to complaints and criminal proceedings involving teachers who sexually abused students. The Commission's remit includes inquiring into the 'systems, policies and procedures' involving the school's response to the complaints since 1970, and the experiences of former students sexually abused by teaching staff.[92] Four teachers from Knox had been convicted of sexual offences against Knox students.[150]

A former Knox teacher, a resident master at the schools boarding house in 1988, was summonsed to appear at the Commission, but failed to do so. A warrant was issued by the Commission for his arrest.[151]

During hearings in early March 2015, several former Knox students and staff alleged that headmaster Ian Paterson did not refer several allegations of sex abuse he received to the police, despite there being a requirement for such allegations to be reported from 1988. The commission heard that in fact Paterson had never reported any student's allegation of sexual abuse to police during his thirty years in charge of the school.[152][153] Paterson also stated that he had allowed several teachers accused of sexual abuse to resign and subsequently gave them positive references. Paterson denied that he had covered up the sexual abuse of students, arguing that he had responded to the allegations brought to his attention, and stated that "I should have known and I should have stopped the events that led to the abuse and its tragic consequences for these boys in my care and their families".[153][154] Paterson stated that he was not aware that it was a crime for a teacher to grope or sexually proposition a student.[155] Following the section of the hearing concerning Paterson, the current headmaster John Weeks stated that the school had changed considerably since the end of Paterson's period in the role and that Knox's Paterson Centre for Ethics and Business Studies would be renamed.[153]

Weeks also gave evidence to the Royal Commission. During this hearing he was questioned over why he had not sacked the teacher who was arrested in 2009 despite having received allegations in 2007 that the teacher had behaved improperly with a student during the 1980s. Weeks told the media that the allegations had not been detailed or specific, and he had received advice that "it would have been difficult on industrial grounds" to have dismissed the teacher. Weeks also stated that he had reported the teacher to the police child protection unit, but the relevant police inspector gave evidence that a report had not been made.[156][157]

The Royal Commission's final report of Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat was released on 6 December 2017. It covered sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat including the Congregation of Christian Brothers.[158]

The Royal Commission's final report, published on 15 December, found that three bishops knew and did nothing about complaints of sexual abuse, namely James O'Collins, Ronald Mulkearns and Peter Connors. It found that 139 people made claims of child sexual abuse to the Diocese of Ballarat between 1980 and 2015, and that there were 21 alleged perpetrators identified in claims. Of the 21 alleged perpetrators 17 were priests which is 8.7% of the priests who ministered during this period.[159] The final report included recommendations 16.6 through 16.26. They include the introduction of mandatory reporting/national standards, screening candidates before and during seminary or religious formation, the introduction of voluntary celibacy for diocesan clergy, to remove the requirement to destroy documents relating to canonical criminal cases in materials of morals, where the accused cleric has died or ten years have elapsed from the condemnatory sentence, amend canon law to remove the time limit (prescription) for commencement of canonical actions relating to child sexual abuse, the bishop of the diocese should ensure that parish priests are not the employers of principals and teachers in Catholic schools, modifications to canon law and for more transparency.[160][161][162][163]

The Commission found that Bishop Mulkearns failed to take action "Bishop Mulkearns again was derelict in his duty in failing to take any effective action to have (infamous paedophile Gerald) Ridsdale referred to police and to restrict Ridsdale's contact with children".[164] The Commission pointed to the structure of the Diocese, culture and governance, concluding: "The most likely explanation for the conduct of Bishop Mulkearns and other senior clergy in the Diocese was that they were trying to minimise the risk of scandal and protect the reputation of the Catholic Church. The Melbourne report found that former Ballarat Diocese Bishop Peter Connors was part of a culture that practiced "using oblique or euphemistic language in correspondence and records concerning complaints of child sexual abuse".[165] The Commission found that, "Many children, mainly boys, said they were sexually abused at St Alipius and/or St Patrick's College."[166] That most allegations at St Patrick's College were related to Ted Dowlan who taught there from 1973 to 1975. "A number of the survivors who gave evidence said they believed a number of their classmates from St Alipius and St Patrick's College had died by suicide or died prematurely," because of the abuse[166] and that there was systematic minimisation and cover up of the abuse.

Here are some extracts from the conclusion of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse's report into Case Study 28 – Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat:[158]

This case study exposed a catastrophic failure in the leadership of the Diocese and ultimately in the structure and culture of the Church over decades to effectively respond to the sexual abuse of children by its priests. That failure led to the suffering and often irreparable harm to children, their families and the wider community. That harm could have been avoided if the Church had acted in the interests of children rather than in its own interests.

Euphemistic and elliptical language was often used in correspondence and minutes to mask the true nature of the conduct discussed. There was repeated reference to 'pressures', 'strains' and unspecified 'problems'. On occasions, records were deliberately not made or kept or were destroyed.

The result of these inexcusable failures was that more children were sexually abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese. There was a catastrophic institutional failure which resulted in many children being sexually abused. We heard about the devastating, often lifelong, consequences in the lives of those children. The welfare of children was not the primary concern of Bishop Mulkearns and other senior members of the Diocese when responding to complaints and allegation of child sexual abuse against their priests. There is no doubt it should have been.

The report on Ballarat also described the impact it had on victims. One section outlines suicide and premature death caused from the abuse. One victim said:

Newspapers don't report suicides, so the public doesn't hear about the broken families and their shared lives, about the unseen impact of institutional child sexual abuse. Children are left behind and they don't understand why. It doesn't end when the abuse ends.[167]

Other harms are outlined. Another victim outlines the general harm in the Ballarat community:

Such chronic sexual abuse in the Ballarat community has led to a large number of men who are not able to be productive members of society and intellects have become either emotional, social or financial burdens upon the community.[167]

The Royal Commission's final report of Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat was released on 6 December.[158] The report found that 56 Christian Brothers had claims of sexual abuse made against them in Ballarat and that there "was a complete failure by the Christian Brothers to protect the most vulnerable children in their care".[168] The Commissioners found that in one instances after a complaint was made to Brother Nangle about Brother Dowlan (who was later jailed for sexual abuse[169]) was putting his hands down students' pants a student was required to apologise to the school assembly for "spreading lies".[170][171]

The response to complaints of sexual abuse was "grossly inadequate" and that Christian Brothers were moved after an allegation had been made.[172] The Report found:

Often, the Christian Brother in question was allowed to remain in the position he held where the allegations arose, with continuing access to children.

On many occasions, the Brother was moved to a new location after a complaint or allegation was made about his conduct. In some cases, the reason given for the move was to conceal the true reason for it and to protect the reputation of the Christian Brothers and avoid scandal and embarrassment.[173][171]

During the Royal Commission it was found that 853 children, average age 13, had been sexually abused by one or more Christian Brothers.[174] Child abuse complaints were made against 281 Christian Brothers, and the Congregation had paid A$37.3 million in compensation.[175] During the Ballarat Case Study of the Royal Commission it was found that Glynis McNeight, a private investigator, was paid for by the Christian Brothers, through a retained law firm, pursued victims and their families who were sexually abused by Brother Edward Dowlan.[176][177] McNeight's report was tabled[178] which contained a strategy to manipulate witnesses such as a victim could be "easily be torn down in the witness box" and "The person himself is a very nervous, excitable type who will reduce to tears and bad language easily".[179] It was also shown that the Christian Brothers knew of abuse from Brothers but did not tell police[180] and spent almost $1.5 million defending paedophile Brother Robert Best, Edward Dowlan and Stephen Farrell.[181]

In July and August 2015, the royal commission examined the handling of child sexual abuse cases by Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia. Their "case studies showed that it was a common practice of religious institutions to adopt 'in-house' responses when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse."[182] The royal commission presented the accounts of two female sex abuse victims and also questioned seven elders and a circuit overseer associated with the congregations where the abuse took place. It also questioned two senior members of the Watch Tower Society Australian branch as well as Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the New York-based Governing Body.

The hearing was told that in response to a summons issued by the commission, the Watch Tower Society had produced 5,000 documents relating to 1,006 case files of allegations of child sexual abuse reported to Jehovah's Witness elders in Australia since 1950—each file for a different alleged perpetrator of child sexual abuse, including 579 cases in which the perpetrator confessed. The "case study regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses showed that the organisation dealt with allegations of child sexual abuse in accordance with internal, scripturally based disciplinary policies and procedures."[183] The documents showed that of the alleged perpetrators, "not one was reported by the Church to secular authorities". The commission was told: "This suggests that it is the practice of the Jehovah's Witness Church to retain information regarding child sexual abuse offences but not to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the police or other relevant authorities."[184][185] Officers of the royal commission "referred information in relation to 514 alleged perpetrators to police", adding that "of the remaining 492 alleged perpetrators identified in the case files, officers at the Royal Commission determined that there was either insufficient evidence in the case files to warrant referring matters to police or that the matters had already come to the attention of police".[186]

The royal commission found that it "[did] not consider the Jehovah's Witness organisation to be an organisation which responds adequately to child sexual abuse. ... The organisation's retention and continued application of policies such as the two-witness rule in cases of child sexual abuse shows a serious lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse."[187] In its final report, the royal commission added, "As long as the Jehovah's Witness organisation continues to ... [rely on a literal interpretation of the Bible and 1st century principles to set practice, policy and procedure] ... in its response to allegations of child sexual abuse, it will remain an organisation that does not respond adequately to child sexual abuse and that fails to protect children."[188]

In September and October 2015, the Royal Commission held a public hearing into sexual abuse at the Geelong Grammar School, an elite Anglican boarding school for boys which had once counted the then Prince Charles among its students. In 2015-2016 the Royal Commission then investigated the allegations brought forth at the hearings, and handed down a report published in February 2017, which is available on the internet.[189] The report details many incidents of abuse by the school staff between 1956 and 1989, including three Anglican priests, three boarding house masters, and a live-in boarding house assistant. (p. 20-30) One can sense from the testimony of former students that Geelong was a "strict, authoritarian and regimented place" (p. 21), where sexual abuse was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what would lead an adolescent boy to despair. One complainant said he witnessed "repeated physical and psychological abuse" in addition to sexual abuse, and that there was a "code of silence" about this at the school; all of this left him with a sense of "shame, helplessness and powerlessness". (p. 29) Three of the sexual abuse cases led in the victims to later struggles with depression, suicidal thoughts, and attempted suicide. (p. 26, 28, 31) Five former staff members of the school were convicted of child sex offences. (p. 31-32)

The Commission held a public hearing to inquire into the experiences of men and women who were sexually abused as children in certain divisions of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It also examined the systems, policies, practices and procedures of the ADF and the ADF Cadets to prevent child sexual abuse, and raising and responding to concerns and complaints about child sexual abuse.[190][191] On 22 August 2017 the Commission released reports into abuse within the ADF, and found that at HMAS Leeuwin the physical and sexual abuse of child recruits was widespread, with "bastardisation" practices that involved a junior recruit being held down while boot polish, toothpaste or another substance was forcibly smeared on his genitals or anal area also took place at Leeuwin. At The Army Apprentice School, Balcombe on the Mornington Peninsula, teenage apprentices were severely sexually abused during the 1970s and 1980s. The abuse included fondling of genitals, forced masturbation, anal penetration with an object such as a broomstick and "bastardisation" practices primarily perpetrated by senior apprentices or staff. A 15-year old cadet within the Australian Air Force Cadets in Tasmania, committed suicide following the improper handling of an incident of an improper relationship that was instigated by a senior officer.[192][193]

On 8 May 2020, the Victorian Supreme Court established an Institutional Liability List to administer child sex abuse lawsuits.[201] The list includes claims for damages arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.[201] The Royal Commission's allegations against George Pell and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat played a role in the creation of the list.[201]