The ANGLICAN diocese of Adelaide paid out over £342,000 last year in sexual abuse claims, delegates to a special meeting of synod heard on May 31.However, it may be further liable for up to £1 million, and it is “uncertain whether any part of these paid claims or the future potential claims paid may be covered by insurance,” diocesan reports note.
The 140-member diocesan synod agreed to sell portions of Bishopscourt, Archbishop Jeffrey Driver’s official residence, to fund the liability claims.
Since 2004 the diocese has faced claims for damages of £5 million, and in 2006 settled the claims of 36 men, who as boys were allegedly molested by Church of England Boys Society youth worker Robert Brandenburg.
Former Adelaide Archbishop Ian George was forced into early retirement in June 2004 following an independent review that sharply criticized his handling of the abuse controversies. Sale of portions of Bishopscourt must be approved by Dr Driver.
However since taking office, the Adelaide Archbishop has taken an activist stance towards resolving the abuse crisis.
In April a 600-page report prepared by retired Supreme Court Justice Ted Mullighan on the sexual abuse of children in state care documented hundreds of hundreds of cases of abuse over the past 40 years was tabled before the South Australia parliament.
The abuse of children in state care took place in orphanages, youth shelters and foster homes run by churches and the government and was perpetrated by foster parents, their sons, teachers, priests, social workers and strangers, the Mullighan report said.
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