An Anglican diocese refused to
compensate victims of abuse committed in a children's home, despite
previously making dozens of payments in other similar cases, because it
was struggling with debts elsewhere, the royal commission has heard.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual
Abuse heard that a letter to the Bishop of Grafton from one of
these victims detailing his abuse went effectively unanswered for 18
months.
The victim was one of dozens of children at the North Coast
Children's Home in Lismore, northern NSW, who suffered brutal sexual and
physical abuse at the hands of priests and church workers, the
commission heard.
This victim, as well as another who had also written personally to
Bishop Keith Slater, subsequently heard back from his lawyers, who said
their claims would not be considered, despite around 40 other victims
receiving settlements in the past.
"I asked Bishop Slater early in 2013
why he had refused compensation to (the two later victims). He responded
'Well, we are in the middle of a financial crisis'.
"He also said that the diocese was not legally liable. I was appalled
that victims had been told that in effect they had 'missed the boat',"
she told the commission.
At the time, Ms Hywood said, the diocese had been struggling to meet a
roughly $7 million debt incurred by one of its schools but she remained
deeply worried about the long delay in responding to the victim's
letter.
"I was really concerned that when the (church) did make contact
with him 18 months later would he still be alive? That is the sort of
damage that can be done by not responding appropriately," she said.
Ms
Hywood later wrote to the Anglican Church in Australia, Archbishop
Phillip Aspinall, to outline her concerns at the way the diocese had
handled the issue.