Abuse commission liaising with ECAJ
RELIGIOUS communities and schools will not be the exclusive focus of the Royal Commission into Institut-ional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. That was the message from the commission’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan in a recent meeting with Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) executive director Peter Wertheim and immediate past president Robert Goo
RELIGIOUS communities and schools will not be the exclusive focus of the Royal Commission into Institut-ional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. That was the message from the commission’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan in a recent meeting with Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) executive director Peter Wertheim and immediate past president Robert Goot.
Further, the inquiry, which was launched last week in Melbourne, will not examine findings of specific incidents of abuse; rather, it will look into the institutional and cultural failures in preventing and dealing with abuse, with Jewish bodies included in the “spread of institutions covered”, Wertheim told The AJN.
McClellan said he would notify the ECAJ in the event that any Jewish school or organisation becomes the subject of the investigations, and that such institutions or individuals would be notified beforehand of any potentially adverse information and would be accorded procedural fairness.
Moreover, it was decided that the ECAJ could seek leave to appear for any segment of the inquiry that relates to a Jewish organisation, and to make submissions about best practice for screening employees and volunteers, educating children and parents about the problem, and handling complaints.
“Any person in our community who anticipates appearing at the Royal Commission, at either a public hearing or a private session, is welcome to contact me to obtain further information about the process,” Wertheim said. “If I cannot answer the question myself, I am happy to seek the information from the commission in the name of the ECAJ.”
Wertheim and Goot were further informed that private hearings could be held for people with information who did not want to give evidence at a public hearing, and that such information would not be used as evidence or the foundation for any finding.
However, the commissioner added that such information might result in a referral to the police or be used to guide further investigations of institutions or individuals.
Furthermore, a hotline will be available for possible informants. The persons taking the calls will be specially trained to deal sympathetically with alleged victims and to refer them to counselling and law enforcement agencies where appropriate.
The interim report is expected to be out by mid-2014, with the inquiry to last three years.
The final report of the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations will be published on September 30.
Public hearings for the Victorian inquiry are continuing in Melbourne.
Enquiries: Peter Wertheim (02) 8353 8500; pwertheim@ecaj.org.au.
TIMNA JACKS
ECAJ executive director Peter Wertheim.
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