Compensation payments to people sexually abused as children by Catholic clergy in the Melbourne archdiocese are expected to surpass $31 million after the church doubled the maximum available payout.
The compensation cap under the church’s Melbourne Response scheme will rise from $75,000 to $150,000, putting it in line with the maximum payment under the federal government’s planned commonwealth redress scheme.
Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart has been accused of exacerbating the suffering of clerical abuse victims by ignoring an independent report on the archdiocese’s compensation scheme that he received a year ago.
Victims who want their compensation claims reviewed have been forced to wait while the Archdiocese of Melbourne continues to delay the release of the report, fuelling claims of stalling and obfuscation by the church.
Compensation payments to people sexually abused as children by clergy could be increased to more than $100,000 under the Catholic Church’s much-criticised Melbourne Response scheme, a victims’ advocate says.
That is one message penned by a survivor of institutional child sexual abuse and sent to the Royal Commission. All survivors who share their story with the Commission in a private session or written account are invited to send in a Message to Australia.
Lateline’s exclusive report as a former Catholic Church co-ordinator reveals former Melbourne Archbishop George Pell prevented her from helping victims of abuse in Doveton, a parish devastated by a notorious paedophile priest.
Survivors of clergy abuse have accused the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne of stalling and obfuscation by delaying the release of an independent review of its own controversial compensation scheme.
Cardinal George Pell faces “the moment of truth” about his knowledge of pedophile priests, a victims’ advocacy group says.
If any “silver bullet” exists it will come out during cross-examination of Cardinal Pell in the child abuse royal commission next week, Broken Rites spokesman Wayne Chamley said.
A Catholic priest stood down amid child sexual abuse allegations has moved to Malaysia, where he is using a gay dating website to seek the company of “young Asian men” while on paid leave.
It not only let them keep ticking away but also covered up the pedophiles’ evil deeds to protect its reputation.
The extent of the cover-up is still being dissected by the child abuse royal commission but victims advocacy group Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley expects its report will be absolutely scathing of the Catholic Church.
One Melbourne parish. Four pedophile priests. One after another.
For three decades, the chief spiritual leaders for Doveton’s Holy Family Parish were its child parishioners’ worst nightmares.
Rachel has worked at IGFF for almost a decade providing Case Work, Community Development and Education Project Management. She has contributed over 30 years of voluntary service supporting the Australian movement for justice and recognition to all religious institutional abuse Survivors. Rachel supported the development of In Good Faith Foundation as a nationally recognised and sustainably funded ‘specialising’ support service. In her current role as the Advocacy and Redress Manager, Rachel enjoys working with diverse clients; from all walks of life and understanding their life experiences and individual needs. She has lobbied successive governments and institutional hierarchies on behalf of Survivors, with shared concerns. She has also organised and run community forums and education events to greater develop Survivor support and professional care understandings. Rachel’s collaborative approach to advocacy, assists IGFF clients with enhanced access to therapeutic care and justice pathways. She continues to develop her work practices from a deep commitment to human rights and respect for the Survivor’s journey.
Jim received an Electrical Engineering education at University of Melbourne and contributes his organisational competency to IGFF as a Board Director and a leader of the MVC. As a secondary survivor, Jim is a tireless advocate for survivors of religious institutional abuse, their families and communities presenting to a conference ‘Sexual Abuse in Religious Contexts’ held at the University of NSW in 2008. Jim has provided submissions to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry and the Royal Commission, making active contributions to the research and documentation compiled by IGFF.
Clare has worked at IGFF for nearly a decade, assisting individuals, families and communities to engage with the Royal Commission and Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry. She has extensive consultative experience providing written and verbal testimony to both State and Federal Government Inquiries, legislative and policy reviews, organisational restructuring and child safe standards. Graduating from the University of Melbourne with a background in Humanities, Clare possesses extensive case management, community development and engagement experience with governance and organisational oversight experience. She is driven to provide an accessible support service to survivors, families and communities impacted by institutional abuses. Clare is privileged to have shared in the recovery journeys of many survivors and is committed to enhancing public awareness of the needs of institutional abuse Survivors.
Phil has recently joined IGFF to assist with further strengthening the Foundation’s governance and helping develop strategies for continuing growth and development. Phil has over 30 years of experience in Commonwealth government and the private sector, with a focus on complex commercial, procurement and contracting projects, governance, risk management and business transformation. The last decade of this experience was as a Senior Executive, followed by three years of consulting back to government.
Joe Stroud has come onboard as our Head of Government Relations. He has spent the last five years working in Federal Politics and has a background in Community and Political Organising. He has extensive experience as a senior Campaign Adviser and was most recently Campaign Director for the Federal seat of Maribyrnong. Joe has a BA from Monash University.
After completing her BA/LLB(Hons), Hannah worked as a judges’ associate and legal researcher at the Victorian Court of Appeal and the Family Court of Australia before completing her Masters in Social Work. She is passionate about the pursuit of individual and communal justice and wellbeing. Hannah has experience in roles focused on advocacy, education design and delivery, counselling, and service reform, with a particular specialisation in disability. Hannah is also a Board Member of Pathways Melbourne, an organisation which provides peer support and practical resources to people leaving or changing their relationship with their personal Jewish faith or religious community, and one of the few non-autistic Co-Directors of A_tistic, a majority neurodivergent-led arts, education and consultancy collective dedicated to spreading understanding of autism and neurodiversity. She is dedicated to supporting survivors with a focus on collaborative, accessible approaches adapted to each person.
Ingrid recently joined the IGFF team in December 2019. She has an interest in mental health, and providing advocacy and support for our most vulnerable people within the community. She has a Diploma of Community Services, and has been actively involved with school community committee groups while her children attended school. Ingrid has housed exchange students, volunteered at centres for the poor, and most recently volunteers at a retreat, helping children from disadvantaged countries that require life saving medical treatment. She also has experience in family health support.
Reverend Alexandra’s commitment to healing through justice is central to her spiritual support role at IGFF. She has provided pastoral care to members of IGFF’s community including clients, MVC members and supporters, core staff and associates. Following the completion of an Arts degree majoring in international Development Studies, Alexandra played a significant role at the Carlton and Atherton Gardens Housing Estates, where she worked breaking down barriers dividing residents and local community. She is currently the Uniting Church Minister at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Fairfield.
Linda is a registered Counselling Psychologist with a Masters in Counselling Psychology from Swinburne University. She is a founder and Co-Director of integrative Psychology and works closely with IGFF on research and best practice community education seminar delivery. She has extensively researched institutional abuse and has expertise in responding to institutional misuse of power and control within communities. She works therapeutically with survivors of institutional trauma and has coordinated an individual and group therapeutic response to survivors of a spiritual organisation in Victoria.
David studied Law at Monash University and was admitted to practice in 1996. David’s main areas of practice include land valuation and compensation, equity, property, planning and environment law, as well as general commercial litigation. From 2010 to 2014, David represented Western Victoria in the Legislative Council of Victoria and was a member of the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations. He is a strong political and social advocate for survivors of institutional abuse and represented clients approaching the Royal Commission.
Graeme is the former Principal of Holy Family Primary School, Doveton with a strong commitment to the education and protection of children. As an ambassador for IGFF, Graeme is a leader of the MVC community, frequently contributing to meetings as a guest speaker. Since 2012, Graeme has been contributing to IGFF submissions and was a public witness to the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry and the Royal Commission. Graeme is a passionate advocate for primary survivors and families of religious institutional abuses, recognising the work of whistle-blowers in drawing attention to this critical social issue.
Richard’s long-term advocacy over the last 15 years demonstrates his outstanding commitment to advocating on behalf of survivors. In choosing to share his story as a survivor across all avenues of media, Richard has empowered many others to speak out. His public relations, media communications and political lobbying background has assisted in many of IGFF’s successful campaigns for survivor justice and institutional reform. Contributing to the MVC over many years, Richard has also worked with IGFF and other survivors to establish a Memorial at Xavier College. He was a Founding Board Director of IGFF.
Shyamala joined the In Good Faith Foundation team in February 2021 as our administrative officer. She comes to IGFF with experience in not-for-profit organisations, governance, office management, operations and administration. She current looks after all the administration needs of the organisation and supports management and staff with IT and administration.
Originally from Germany, Thea has completed her B.A. in Social Work and further education in Trauma Counselling. Managing asylum seeker camps and providing Case Management formed her interested in human rights and social justice and lead to her volunteering for different projects in Latin America and Myanmar, Asia. Since arriving in Australia September 2019, Thea has worked in the youth homeless sector in a crisis accommodation setting and commenced with IGFF on 1 February 2021. Thea enjoys being creative and spending a lot of time in nature.
Srini has recently joined IGFF as a CFO, ensuring finance and finance-related functions are carried out in accordance the IGFF Strategic Plan and further strengthening the Foundation’s governance and helping develop strategies for continuing growth and development. Srini has over 30 years of experience in corporate Australia with global and multinational companies in financial services and retail sectors. His expertise includes providing specialist management services including governance, strategic planning, financial management, risk management and IT and transformation projects. His last assignment has been in a senior management capacity with a national retail chain. He is also involved with an NFP organisation as a member of the Audit committee.
Originally from Sydney…
