Catholic church's child protection body would have broad secrecy powers, inquiry told
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Version 0 of 2. A new Catholic body designed to scrutinise the church’s approach to child abuse would have “extraordinary power” to keep its reports secret, the royal commission has heard. The church announced late last year it would create Catholic Professional Standards (CPS) to lead its efforts on child protection. CPS will set standards for the protection of children and vulnerable adults, and engage external auditors to assess the compliance. Its “teeth” will rely on it publishing those audits widely, an approach taken in Ireland to drive transparency and accountability in a church traditionally hostile to external scrutiny. But the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse heard on Monday that CPS would have broad powers to keep the audits from being published. The current drafting of the company’s constitution would allow it to keep reports secret if they involved “church contacts”, a term for children or vulnerable adults, who would ostensibly be involved in almost every report. Reports could also remain secret if they were inaccurate, had potential to confuse the public or endangered public safety. On Monday, the counsel assisting, Gail Furness SC, questioned the chair of the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, Neville Owen, about the restrictions. “Now taking all four together, it could be argued that they provide very large reasons for not publishing?” Furness asked. Owen responded: “Yes, that’s one way of interpreting it, but I can only go on the intention that’s behind this, the teeth in this system is public reporting.” The royal commission chair, Justice Peter McClellan, also raised concern. “Mr Owen, it may be that the public confidence in this body won’t be enhanced by a clause that is so broad,” he said. Owen suggested that CPS was still in its formative stages. “Well, it’s in its embryonic stage, your honour, and this will be I suppose an easy answer, but there’s a lot yet to be worked out,” he said. “And if the board, for example, or as you say through expressions of public concern, perhaps coming from what happens today, perhaps as the mechanisms work themselves out, if the constitution needs to be changed, then there is a mechanism for doing that,” he said. Owen said it was never the intention for CPS not to publish its reports. The intention was that public reporting would “be the norm”. It was vital CPS be properly resourced. Without that, he said, it would undoubtedly fail. The royal commission hearing continues on Monday. The Brisbane archbishop, Mark Coleridge, and the Truth, Justice and Healing Council chief executive, Francis Sullivan, are on the witness panel with Owen. |