There are already demands to extend the inquiry to all Victoria state schools.

The initial inquiry will investigate abuse that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as ongoing abuse committed by Beaumaris employees at other schools.

The investigation will establish an official record of the experiences of school victim-survivors and examine allegations of abuse by the three staff members, who also worked at other government schools.

Approximately $4.5 million is being set aside to support victim-survivors and run the inquiry, which could be expanded to investigate instances of historical abuse at other schools under its terms of reference.

"This is not in any way diminishing the experience of anybody at any other school," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.

"But the circumstances at Beaumaris Primary School all those decades ago are unique, given there were multiple victims, multiple offenders, multiple predators at the one time."

Beaumaris "the tip of the iceberg"

There are demands to extend the inquiry to include all government-run schools in Victoria, as Beaumaris is seen as just "the tip of the iceberg," according to Victorian MP Brad Roswell.

Premier Andrews said at least three school staff members at the time are believed to be involved in what he described as vile, evil and predatory behaviour towards students.

"This is principally a truth-telling process and one that is about providing people with that certainty that they are heard, they are believed," Andrews told reporters.

"That is an important part of healing, it's an important part of justice."

More than five years have passed since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse concluded its final report and recommendations. The Royal Commission provided a platform for approximately 8,000 survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences.

No government school examined

Reportedly, 35.7 percent of survivors reported abuse within Catholic-run institutions, while 32.5 percent reported abuse within government-run institutions.

Despite the comparable proportions of allegations, Catholic-run institutions were the focus of twice as many public hearings as government-run schools, with no government school being examined during a public hearing.

The Royal Commission conducted five separate public hearings on Catholic schools and an additional six hearings on schools affiliated with other faith groups. However, government schools were not considered, aside from a couple of special schools that no longer exist.

The closest the Royal Commission came to addressing abuse in normal government schools was through the testimony of a single witness from the NSW Department of Education regarding student-on-student sexual abuse.

Charges were laid last month against an 82-year-old Queensland man as part of an ongoing police investigation into reported sexual assaults linked to the Beaumaris school.

The former teacher is set to face court on 26 counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

Sources

Catholic Weekly

7 News

CathNews New Zealand

Under new laws now in force, failure to make a mandatory report is an offence with a maximum penalty of $6000.

A minister of religion will not be excused from criminal responsibility even if their belief is based on information disclosed during a religious confession.

"This government is sending a clear message that nobody is above the law, including ministers of religion," Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk said.

"For far too long abusers have been able to hide behind religion.

"It's a shameful hypocrisy that compounds the trauma for victims and enables perpetrators to go on to abuse more children."

The new laws deliver on recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The RCIRCSA was established in 2013 in response to allegations of sexual abuse of children in institutional contexts that had been emerging in Australia for many years.

The commission examined the history of abuse in educational institutions, religious groups, sporting and youth organisations, and state institutions. It issued a total of four reports that included a total of 409 recommendations.

The Final Report from the RCIRCSA was released on 15 December 2017. It was Australia's longest-running public inquiry.

Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister at the time, announced that the federal government had not rejected any recommendations of the RCIRCSA. He advised that the government was working on 104 of the 122 recommendations addressed to the Commonwealth.

The law changes also extend mandatory reporting requirements to early childhood, out-of-home care and youth justice workers, as well as registered psychologists and school counsellors.

Ministers of religion are the first group to come into effect, with other groups to be included in the new provisions in the next three years.

Sources

Canberra Times

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

CathNews New Zealand

Its episcopal appointment process could also be altered so it is more open - it could save a lot of unnecessary distress, he says.

The clerical sexual abuse scandal shows the necessity for these changes, he wrote in a paper published in Studia Canonica.

Daly wrote the paper after analysing the 213 recommendations from the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse made in 2017 about the Catholic Church.

His research also included analysing the Holy See's responses to the recommendations.

The Royal Commission's final report commented on the "lack of responsibility, transparency and accountability within the Catholic Church's practices and law", Daly wrote.

These findings show "the catastrophic failure of bishops and religious superiors to deal with the perpetrators, to protect victims and potential victims and to prevent abuse."

One Royal Commission recommendation was that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference ask Rome to establish a transparent process for appointing bishops. The process would include lay people's direct participation.

Another recommendation was that the criteria for appointing bishops be published.

The Holy See noted the documents and canonical provisions describing these criteria.

It also noted the current laity's involvement in the episcopal appointment process, stating child safety must be part of this.

The "massive failures in episcopal leadership" throughout the world raises the question of whether a different selection process would be a preventative measure, Daly said.

The job description of a bishop has changed and needs to be reflected in the qualities required of episcopal candidates.

The Royal Commission blamed "clericalism as a key cause of failures to deal with the sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church. This is part of the systemic failure that led to neglecting the input of laity," he wrote.

He suggested a true separation of powers and more allowance for laity in Church governance are needed.

Pope Francis believes Church renewal cannot be deferred [as] "the path of synodality is the path that God expects from the Church of the third millennium".

It will result in better decisions in all areas of the Church's life, Daly said. Many painful crimes could have been prevented if canon law had been better appreciated and implemented.

A governance review of the Catholic Church in Australia recommended wider consultation with laity during the episcopal appointment process.

This includes "ensuring that candidates for the episcopacy have proven competence in dealing with sexual abuse cases".

Its recommendations also included:

• a national protocol on seminarian selection, training and ongoing formation
• each diocesan bishop (or dioceses in combination if appropriate) establishing a panel involving women and lay men for the selection process for entry of candidates into the seminary and discernment prior to ordination
• lay people take a critical role in the formation of seminarians and evaluations of suitability for ordination
• a requirement for each diocesan bishop to consult the panel before accepting a foreign priest.

Source

• NZ Catholic