The Royal Commission has started its final hearing into the Catholic Church. This week in her opening statement to the Commission, Senior Counsel Assisting, Gail Furness, released data on the extent of child sexual abuse in the church.
In a statement to the Commission TJHC CEO Francis Sullivan said the data represented a massive failure on the part the Catholic Church in Australia to protect children from abusers and predators.
"These numbers are shocking, they are tragic and they are indefensible," Mr Sullivan said.
Read Council assisting opening statement here Read statement to Commission from TJHC CEO here See the data report here Read transcripts from this week's hearing here Read hearing room updates from TJHC here
Frankly speaking...
The release of the data this week into the extent of clerical child sexual abuse in the Australian Catholic Church has been both a statistical and spiritual ground zero for millions of people around Australia and around the world.
It has had a devastating impact on the survivors of abuse, on ordinary Catholics and on the broader community.
Government reveals national compensation redress scheme timetable
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed a fixed timeline for when victims would be able to seek financial redresss through a national redress scheme.
"This abuse, in any context, can never happen again," the Prime Minister told parliament.
"This is not just a history lesson. This is not just a sad tale from times past. This is a reminder to all of us today, in every part of the nation, to protect the vulnerable in our care, the children in our care in whatever context."
Read Parliamentary statements from Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten and Shadow Families and Social Services minister, Jenny Macklin
New abuse reporting system for Tasmanian Catholic Church
Tasmania's Catholic Church will usher in a new era this year, with the introduction of an Australian-first child sex abuse reporting system.
The new system, created by the Archdiocese of Hobart, will "ensure that in all potential environments where there is a risk of abuse, that risk is alleviated or mitigated" and ensure "that where abuse has unfortunately occurred, the correct internal and external processes are followed".
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