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07 May 2020

 

Maurice Blackburn National Head of Abuse Law Michelle James said while today’s redacted findings would be of little surprise to many survivors, they remained deeply disappointing in highlighting systemic abuse and the inexcusable lack of leadership within the Church to help those who had been abused and to protect countless other children from further abuse.

“We act for many clients who were abused in the Melbourne Archdiocese and Ballarat Diocese and sadly for a number of them while today’s findings will be deeply disappointing, including that the abuse they suffered was known and not acted on, it will be of little surprise,” Ms James said.

“For some of our clients this is now compounded in knowing that the Church was not only on notice about their offender but allowed this to continue, in some cases over many years, with little care or regard for the countless numbers of children who continued to suffer harm.

“Today’s findings further reinforce that the Catholic Church must now act urgently in doing the right thing by survivors.

“In too many of our cases, including cases against the Melbourne and Ballarat Archdioceses, we continue to see the Church denying responsibility behind complex legal structures and making it very difficult for survivors to access justice.

“Our clients have waited long enough, and as findings like today’s make clear the Church has had more than enough time to act in showing it prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children in its care and the adult survivors now seeking redress.

“We call on the Catholic Church to act on these findings, including in taking a fair and genuine approach to its dealings with abuse survivors,” she said.

 

Media inquiries: 

 Maurice Blackburn media team on media@mauriceblackburn.com.au

 

Practice Areas:
Childhood abuse

 

Maurice Blackburn media team

Our media team advises and supports Maurice Blackburn lawyers and clients during all forms of media engagement, including video and television appearances, radio, online and print media.

Please direct media inquiries to media@mauriceblackburn.com.au, or contact team members directly via the phone numbers below.

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Jade Knight

National Manager Public Affairs, Media and communications

  • Brisbane, QLD
  • (07) 3016 0396
    0417 969 438
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Michael Cooney

General Manager Public Affairs, Media and communications

  • Melbourne, VIC
  • (03) 9605 2700
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Chee Chee Leung

Media Manager, Media and communications

  • Melbourne, VIC
  • (03) 9045 6941
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Paddy Murphy

Media Manager, Media and communications

  • Melbourne, VIC
  • (03) 8102 2003
    0490 297 391

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