Fears elderly sex abuse victims will die before delayed Hollingworth inquiry held
The secretive inquiry into the potential defrocking of Peter Hollingworth faces yet another extraordinary delay, sparking concerns elderly participants will die before there is proper scrutiny over the former governor-general’s handling of the child sex abuse issue.
The secretive inquiry into the potential defrocking of Peter Hollingworth faces yet another extraordinary delay, sparking concerns elderly participants will die before there is proper scrutiny over the former governor-general’s handling of the child sex abuse issue.
Dr Hollingworth, 87, is overdue to face professional standards board hearings under the sex abuse response system set up by the Anglican Church, with the board acting as an effective legal tribunal to determine whether his behaviour warrants him being defrocked or facing other action.
The church-inspired process received complaints against Dr Hollingworth as far back as five years ago but victims say they have faced a brick wall of secrecy and delays that reached crisis point this month when they were told of yet another legal setback.
That delay, which has not been fully explained and means it will be February at least before the hearings begin, has led one victim to warn the overall investigation into Dr Hollingworth’s behaviour as archbishop of Brisbane would trickle into its sixth year without coming to a conclusion.
The confidential inquiries into Dr Hollingworth, the 1991 Australian of the Year, threaten to run longer than the entire child sex abuse royal commission, with the church arguing the so-called Kooyoora system is independent and does not respond to clerical influence.
Chris Goddard, a global expert on child sex abuse, said the system had become farcical and was threatening the health of the participants.
Dr Goddard said the process looked like it had been set up to thwart accountability. “I think they are fundamentally waiting for people to give up or they are waiting for them to die,” he said.
An elderly victim of church abuse also told The Weekend Australian that the process was so drawn out that it looked like it was tactical.
The church and the Kooyoora investigative body it set up declined to comment.
Dr Hollingworth was never an abuser but was exposed falling short of basic community standards in his handling of the crisis when Brisbane archbishop.
His critics argue there is enough evidence already on the record that suggests he should be banished from his church, including that against a specialist’s advice he allowed a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to preach, giving incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry and blaming a victim of child sex abuse for encouraging the offending.
Multiple victims of church abuse have made complaints to Kooyoora but are extremely frustrated with the slow response. The church says the process is fully independent, a claim rejected by its critics. There is now a strong push for any tribunal hearing to be held without Dr Hollingworth present if he is unable or unwilling to attend. He did not comment.
If Dr Hollingworth were not to appear, the tribunal could rely on public record documents and evidence that includes the 1993 decision to allow the pedophile to preach.
Anti-sex abuse campaigner Hetty Johnston said Dr Hollingworth should never have been appointed governor-general, a position he had to relinquish after a storm of controversy over his handling of the abuse issue.
Ms Johnston said the constant delays in the Victorian tribunal were harmful to the victims. “There is no question that this is re-traumatising (them),” she said. “I just find it incomprehensible. The system just doesn’t work.”
The secrecy surrounding the Kooyoora process makes it difficult for even those who make complaints to know exactly what is happening. It also is becoming increasingly embarrassing for the church, which has, like all the biggest denominations, been attempting to move on from the abuse crisis and implement new accountability systems.
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