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| Child sexual abuse royal commission delivers final report – live | Child sexual abuse royal commission delivers final report – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| There are 189 recommendations and AAP has gathered a quick list of some of the most significant ones. | |
| National: | |
| - New National Office for Child Safety within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | |
| - Office to report to parliament, develop new national framework for child safety, and become a stand-alone body within 18 months | |
| - States and territories to aid development of new national framework for child safety | |
| - Regular, national studies on extent of child abuse in institutions, other settings | |
| - New federal minister responsible for mitigating abuse risks, and keeping kids safe | |
| For victims: | |
| - National helpline and website to support victims | |
| - Legal advice service to help victims launch criminal and civil proceedings against abusers | |
| - More federal and state funds to close gaps in sexual assault services | |
| - A national memorial for victims of institutional abuse | |
| For abusers and informants: | |
| - Better support services for adults who fear they’ll become abusers and seek for help | |
| - Strong legal protections for informants who report alleged abuse in good faith | |
| Legal and religious change: | |
| - Removal of any time limits on damages cases involving child institutional abuse | |
| - New criminal offence, called failure to report, requiring all adults to report known or suspected child abuse in religious and other institutions | |
| - Offence would cover clergy, who would have to disclose any abuse admissions made during religious confession | |
| - Australian Catholic Bishops Conference should push the Vatican to make celibacy voluntary, publish criteria for the selection of bishops, and remove time limits for actions over abuse claims | |
| - Conference should push the Vatican for a broad overhaul of canon law, seeking specific references to sexual crimes against children | |
| - Conference should seek to end use of “pontifical secret” so it can no longer be applied to abuse allegations | |
| Education: | |
| - Mandatory education programs in preschools and schools aimed at preventing abuse | |
| - Expanded education programs for parents about abuse risks | |
| - National curriculum for online safety education in schools | |
| Carers: | |
| - Yearly reviews of out-of-home carers, including private interviews with children placed with them | |
| Schools: | |
| - Coag must consider strengthening teacher registration requirements | |
| - In particular, Coag should review minimum national requirements for assessing suitability of teachers | |
| Youth detention: | |
| - Youth detention centres should consider using technology, such as CCTV and body-worn cameras, to film child/staff interactions | |
| - Children must be kept out of adult prisons | |
| Senior Catholic leaders in Australia aren’t keen on the recommendation they be legally required to report abuse disclosed during a confessional. | Senior Catholic leaders in Australia aren’t keen on the recommendation they be legally required to report abuse disclosed during a confessional. |
| We’ve already heard from Melbourne archbishop and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Denis Hart, maintaining he would never break the confessional seal. | We’ve already heard from Melbourne archbishop and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Denis Hart, maintaining he would never break the confessional seal. |
| A short time ago Sydney archbishop Anthony Fisher agreed. | A short time ago Sydney archbishop Anthony Fisher agreed. |
| Speaking to media in Sydney Fisher said changing mandatory reporting of abuse that comes to light through confession was “a distraction”. | Speaking to media in Sydney Fisher said changing mandatory reporting of abuse that comes to light through confession was “a distraction”. |
| “While we are yet to study what the commission has had to say about that, I think everyone understands that this Catholic and orthodox practice of confession is always confidential,” he said. | “While we are yet to study what the commission has had to say about that, I think everyone understands that this Catholic and orthodox practice of confession is always confidential,” he said. |
| “Any proposal to stop the practice of confession in Australia would be a real hurt to all Catholics and Orthodox Christians.” | “Any proposal to stop the practice of confession in Australia would be a real hurt to all Catholics and Orthodox Christians.” |
| He said confession rarely unearthed abuse and, on the rare occasion it did, may present an opportunity to move the offender to self-report. | He said confession rarely unearthed abuse and, on the rare occasion it did, may present an opportunity to move the offender to self-report. |
| He struck a similar tone around the report’s recommendation that celibacy should be voluntary for clergy. | He struck a similar tone around the report’s recommendation that celibacy should be voluntary for clergy. |
| “We know very well that institutions who have celibate clergy and institutions that don’t have celibate clergy both face these problems,” he said. | “We know very well that institutions who have celibate clergy and institutions that don’t have celibate clergy both face these problems,” he said. |
| “We know very well that this happens in families that are certainly not observing celibacy. It’s an issue for everybody, celibate or not, how we make sure children are treated appropriately and kept safe.” | “We know very well that this happens in families that are certainly not observing celibacy. It’s an issue for everybody, celibate or not, how we make sure children are treated appropriately and kept safe.” |
| Yesterday McClellan presented the National Library of Australia with a book of around 1,000 messages handwritten by survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. | Yesterday McClellan presented the National Library of Australia with a book of around 1,000 messages handwritten by survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. |
| Survivors’ share their experiences and their hopes for creating a safer environment for children in the future. A slideshow containing all the messages in the Message to Australia book can be found here. | Survivors’ share their experiences and their hopes for creating a safer environment for children in the future. A slideshow containing all the messages in the Message to Australia book can be found here. |
| I’ll be publishing some of them throughout the live coverage of the report and its findings. | I’ll be publishing some of them throughout the live coverage of the report and its findings. |
| Here’s what the report had to say about the barriers to reporting: | Here’s what the report had to say about the barriers to reporting: |
| 22% of those who disclosed abuse as an adult, and 26% of those who disclosed in childhood said they had thought they would not be believed if they spoke up | 22% of those who disclosed abuse as an adult, and 26% of those who disclosed in childhood said they had thought they would not be believed if they spoke up |
| 20% said they had not reported abuse as a child because they feared retribution | 20% said they had not reported abuse as a child because they feared retribution |
| 28% of those who had disclosed as a child said fear of retribution stopped them from disclosing sooner | 28% of those who had disclosed as a child said fear of retribution stopped them from disclosing sooner |
| 5% who spoke to the commission in a private session said the perpetrator had threatened them or their family | 5% who spoke to the commission in a private session said the perpetrator had threatened them or their family |
| The Reckoning – part two | The Reckoning – part two |
| The second part of Guardian Australia’s podcast on the royal commission – The Reckoning – has just been released. | The second part of Guardian Australia’s podcast on the royal commission – The Reckoning – has just been released. |
| Featuring David Marr and Melissa Davey, this episode follows the hearings of the royal commission, from the witness testimony in Ballarat (“a town steeped in this history of abuse”) to the final hearings in Sydney. | Featuring David Marr and Melissa Davey, this episode follows the hearings of the royal commission, from the witness testimony in Ballarat (“a town steeped in this history of abuse”) to the final hearings in Sydney. |
| Warning: the podcast contains material that is is explicit and upsetting | Warning: the podcast contains material that is is explicit and upsetting |
| You can listen to part one – the road to the royal commission – here. | You can listen to part one – the road to the royal commission – here. |
| Hart says the commission is being “seriously regarded” by the Holy See. | Hart says the commission is being “seriously regarded” by the Holy See. |
| “There is a point of contact now within the secretariat of state from which we can feed the information here, the decisions, I’m sure the recommendations of the royal commission, straightaway, so that the Holy See will know what is proposed and will be able to consider it. So I think that represents a great step forward.” | “There is a point of contact now within the secretariat of state from which we can feed the information here, the decisions, I’m sure the recommendations of the royal commission, straightaway, so that the Holy See will know what is proposed and will be able to consider it. So I think that represents a great step forward.” |
| The press conference comes to an end. | The press conference comes to an end. |
| Hart finishes by saying: “I hope this is an opportunity for us all to move forward courageously where there are difficulties and try and work together for the welfare of all Australians.” | Hart finishes by saying: “I hope this is an opportunity for us all to move forward courageously where there are difficulties and try and work together for the welfare of all Australians.” |
| The reporters are going quite hard on Hart’s refusal to support breaking the confessional seal to report abusers. | The reporters are going quite hard on Hart’s refusal to support breaking the confessional seal to report abusers. |
| Question: What if you could save some people from abuse by breaking that seal? After all that’s happened and all that has come out in the royal commission? | Question: What if you could save some people from abuse by breaking that seal? After all that’s happened and all that has come out in the royal commission? |
| Hart: “I would feel terribly conflicted, and I would try even harder to get that person outside confessional, but I cannot break the seal. The penalty for any priest breaking the seal is excommunication, being cast out of the church, so it’s a real, serious, spiritual matter, and I want to observe the law of the land, and I want to do everything I can to end this awful scourge, and I’m committed to that.” | Hart: “I would feel terribly conflicted, and I would try even harder to get that person outside confessional, but I cannot break the seal. The penalty for any priest breaking the seal is excommunication, being cast out of the church, so it’s a real, serious, spiritual matter, and I want to observe the law of the land, and I want to do everything I can to end this awful scourge, and I’m committed to that.” |
| Question: You would rather not be excommunicated from the church rather than have one extra child abuser as a result of that decision? | Question: You would rather not be excommunicated from the church rather than have one extra child abuser as a result of that decision? |
| Hart: “I know it’s a terrible proposition. I admit the proposition. I would say to you, though, it’s a very, very long bow that anyone would come to me in confession.” | Hart: “I know it’s a terrible proposition. I admit the proposition. I would say to you, though, it’s a very, very long bow that anyone would come to me in confession.” |
| Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart says if he was told about child abuse in confession: "I would feel terribly conflicted. But I cannot break the seal." .... "The penalty for breaking the seal is excommunication." #RoyalCommission @abcmelbourne @abcnews pic.twitter.com/4pFvEIi41w | Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart says if he was told about child abuse in confession: "I would feel terribly conflicted. But I cannot break the seal." .... "The penalty for breaking the seal is excommunication." #RoyalCommission @abcmelbourne @abcnews pic.twitter.com/4pFvEIi41w |
| Asked why it took a royal commission to reveal the extent of abuse, Hart says the Catholic church has been “at the forefront of trying to do the right thing”. | Asked why it took a royal commission to reveal the extent of abuse, Hart says the Catholic church has been “at the forefront of trying to do the right thing”. |
| “I’ve only been a bishop since 1997, so I really came in at a time when the Melbourne response towards healing existed,and there was an increasing awareness, and the removal of priests from the industry who had offended, so in one sense the work had already commenced.” | “I’ve only been a bishop since 1997, so I really came in at a time when the Melbourne response towards healing existed,and there was an increasing awareness, and the removal of priests from the industry who had offended, so in one sense the work had already commenced.” |
| Pushed further on why the church hadn’t investigated beyond the criticised Melbourne response, for instance turning it over to authorities | Pushed further on why the church hadn’t investigated beyond the criticised Melbourne response, for instance turning it over to authorities |
| “I think it’s taken time for bishops to realise the seriousness of the matter, and others would say the idea of an organisation investigating itself – I’m not saying that as an excuse,” he says. | “I think it’s taken time for bishops to realise the seriousness of the matter, and others would say the idea of an organisation investigating itself – I’m not saying that as an excuse,” he says. |
| “I certainly admit we could and should have done more. I’m grateful to the royal commission because I don’t think we could have done it in the forensic, objective way right across the community that this terrible evil demands.” | “I certainly admit we could and should have done more. I’m grateful to the royal commission because I don’t think we could have done it in the forensic, objective way right across the community that this terrible evil demands.” |
| Asked for a personal reflection on the way the church has dealt with complainants, Hart says he thinks it’s been “a slow learning curve”. | Asked for a personal reflection on the way the church has dealt with complainants, Hart says he thinks it’s been “a slow learning curve”. |
| “My own personal reflection is that we could have done great things more quickly. But moving along, little by little, I think the royal commission has been the stimulus.” | “My own personal reflection is that we could have done great things more quickly. But moving along, little by little, I think the royal commission has been the stimulus.” |
| Contrary to the statements of many Catholic church representatives, Archbishop Hart does not think the commission has damaged the credibility of the church. | Contrary to the statements of many Catholic church representatives, Archbishop Hart does not think the commission has damaged the credibility of the church. |
| I would say that we are diminished because our people are sad at what has happened. Many people are angry at the betrayal of the trust that should have been able to be given to leaders and priests and so on. So I think the situation has changed. | I would say that we are diminished because our people are sad at what has happened. Many people are angry at the betrayal of the trust that should have been able to be given to leaders and priests and so on. So I think the situation has changed. |
| We have a lot of ground to recover, and in recovering that ground we have to show not only in the area of child protection but in other areas that we are walking forward with our society, that we are a humble church, recognising we are a church of sinners, but we are also a church that will walk forwards in the areas that are so important, and the most important is the whole question of eradicating child sexual abuse.” | We have a lot of ground to recover, and in recovering that ground we have to show not only in the area of child protection but in other areas that we are walking forward with our society, that we are a humble church, recognising we are a church of sinners, but we are also a church that will walk forwards in the areas that are so important, and the most important is the whole question of eradicating child sexual abuse.” |
| First up Hart is asked about the recommendation for an end to protection of the confessional. | First up Hart is asked about the recommendation for an end to protection of the confessional. |
| He’s sticking to his previous statements that he’s committed to the sacredness of the confessional, and doesn’t think canon law will change. | He’s sticking to his previous statements that he’s committed to the sacredness of the confessional, and doesn’t think canon law will change. |
| BREAKING: The archbishop of the archdiocese of Melbourne, Denis Hart, has just reiterated his comments from August that "the seal of the confessional" can't be broken, even if someone reports child sexual abuse in confession. Priest will not report to police, says Hart. | BREAKING: The archbishop of the archdiocese of Melbourne, Denis Hart, has just reiterated his comments from August that "the seal of the confessional" can't be broken, even if someone reports child sexual abuse in confession. Priest will not report to police, says Hart. |
| The commission recommended it be made a criminal offence not to report a confession of child abuse, even if made under the seal of the confession. | The commission recommended it be made a criminal offence not to report a confession of child abuse, even if made under the seal of the confession. |
| “The seal of the confessional, or the relationship with God that’s carried through the priest and with the person, is inviolable. It can’t be broken. And the cardinal secretary of state mentioned that and notified the bishops even as recently as last month.” | “The seal of the confessional, or the relationship with God that’s carried through the priest and with the person, is inviolable. It can’t be broken. And the cardinal secretary of state mentioned that and notified the bishops even as recently as last month.” |
| Hart says he wouldn’t give absolution to someone who confessed to child sexual abuse until they took themselves to the authorities. If a child told him they had been abused he would guide them to parents or teachers “to see that that was reported”. | Hart says he wouldn’t give absolution to someone who confessed to child sexual abuse until they took themselves to the authorities. If a child told him they had been abused he would guide them to parents or teachers “to see that that was reported”. |
| “I couldn’t report the abuse from what I heard in the confessional but I would be trying to do everything I could to get the person outside and say, hey, what you are doing is really serious and criminal, and for the good of society and your own good, we’ve got to go to the authorities, so I would be very strong on that.” | “I couldn’t report the abuse from what I heard in the confessional but I would be trying to do everything I could to get the person outside and say, hey, what you are doing is really serious and criminal, and for the good of society and your own good, we’ve got to go to the authorities, so I would be very strong on that.” |
| Asked if church law is more important than the law of the land, Hart says he reveres the law of the land and trusts it, “but this is a sacred, spiritual charge before God which I must honour, and I have to try and do what I can do with both”. | Asked if church law is more important than the law of the land, Hart says he reveres the law of the land and trusts it, “but this is a sacred, spiritual charge before God which I must honour, and I have to try and do what I can do with both”. |
| Hart however, does anticipate the Catholic bishops conference will take to the Holy See a recommendation that canon law be changed to relax compulsory celibacy for clergy. | Hart however, does anticipate the Catholic bishops conference will take to the Holy See a recommendation that canon law be changed to relax compulsory celibacy for clergy. |
| Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart is speaking now. | Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart is speaking now. |
| “I reiterate on behalf of the Catholic bishops and religious leaders, our unconditional apology for this suffering and our commitment to ensuring justice for those affected.” | “I reiterate on behalf of the Catholic bishops and religious leaders, our unconditional apology for this suffering and our commitment to ensuring justice for those affected.” |
| He says the Truth Justice and Healing Council’s assessment of the report should be completed by early 2018. | He says the Truth Justice and Healing Council’s assessment of the report should be completed by early 2018. |
| He says national coverage by a redress scheme will not be possible without the cooperation of all Australian states and territories. | He says national coverage by a redress scheme will not be possible without the cooperation of all Australian states and territories. |
| “It is now time for state governments and all of us to act. | “It is now time for state governments and all of us to act. |
| “Central to this royal commission is the painful truth that so many children were abused, trust was destroyed and innocence lost. They are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.” | “Central to this royal commission is the painful truth that so many children were abused, trust was destroyed and innocence lost. They are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.” |
| The $52.1m redress scheme will be up and operational and taking applications at 1 July next year, Porter pledges. | The $52.1m redress scheme will be up and operational and taking applications at 1 July next year, Porter pledges. |
| He says given the amount of consultation involved – describing it as one of the most difficult professional tasks of his life – he couldn’t realistically see it happening any faster. | He says given the amount of consultation involved – describing it as one of the most difficult professional tasks of his life – he couldn’t realistically see it happening any faster. |
| “I believe over the next several weeks we will see churches and institutions opting in, and that took an enormous amount of consultation with the advisory committee to get very difficult issues like ... restrictions on former offenders being able to apply ... designed in an appropriate way that people can be satisfied with and which engages public confidence and makes it a doable scheme ... | “I believe over the next several weeks we will see churches and institutions opting in, and that took an enormous amount of consultation with the advisory committee to get very difficult issues like ... restrictions on former offenders being able to apply ... designed in an appropriate way that people can be satisfied with and which engages public confidence and makes it a doable scheme ... |
| “The worst ... possible thing is the lack of response. They should respond in principle quickly.” | “The worst ... possible thing is the lack of response. They should respond in principle quickly.” |
| Regarding other Australian jurisdictions, Porter says: “I would expect most state attorney-generals and ministers responsible will be giving you some kind of indication in the next couple of days. That is an answer that only those jurisdictions can provide.” | Regarding other Australian jurisdictions, Porter says: “I would expect most state attorney-generals and ministers responsible will be giving you some kind of indication in the next couple of days. That is an answer that only those jurisdictions can provide.” |