Lawyers blast five year sex abuse probe into Hollingworth run by Anglican-created body

The Anglican Church body that investigated former governor-general Peter Hollingworth over his handling of child sex abuse cases has been slammed by senior lawyers.

Former governor-general Peter Hollingworth. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Two expert lawyers including one acting for Peter Hollingworth have blasted the Anglican Church-inspired process that took five years to investigate the former governor-general, re-traumatising victims and plaguing participants.

Criminal lawyer Bill Doogue, who acted for Dr Hollingworth, said his client acknowledged the distress of those involved in the long-winded process but said the former archbishop was also harmed and frustrated by the ­inquiry.

Mr Doogue said it had taken 3½ years for investigators to tell Dr Hollingworth of the allegations and there were repeated requests for details about the process and evidence he said were ignored.

“In the end, there were no new allegations, no new evidence and each of the matters had all been heard before at three previous separate inquiries,’’ Mr Doogue said.

“Notwithstanding this, the Professional Standards Committee declined to determine the matters and referred them to a more formal hearing by a board.

“There seemed to be no clear rules of engagement through the whole process.

“All of this uncertainty occurred while Dr Hollingworth suffered several episodes of ill-health and the death of his wife after a long and painful illness.

‘’Despite his frustrations at the process, Dr Hollingworth tried to respect it by not commenting publicly on the allegations during the five-year inquiry, even after repeated airings by others in the public arena.

“At the end, the board’s report was circulated widely before the parties had a chance to comment, redact information or correct errors, which were exposed immediately. The final twist in a terribly run litigation was that the PSC failed to notify Dr Hollingworth it was not appealing the board’s decision. Instead, it released a statement that was not sent to Dr Hollingworth.”

Mr Doogue’s concerns came as another prominent lawyer, Judy Courtin, accused the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne of failing to create a properly independent process that she says led the church to investigate itself.

Acting for survivor Beth Heinrich, Ms Courtin said the church’s Professional Standards Board investigations and the failure of another committee to appeal the board’s findings had highlighted the contradictory structures.

Peter Hollingworth arriving at Victorian Bar Mediation Centre. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The overall investigatory process was run under an entity known as Kooyoora. “The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, as with other dioceses, functions like a state in that it creates its own laws in the form of legislation and regulations,’’ she said. “Such laws dictate, inter alia, the procedures and powers to be granted to its appointed members (committees and boards) to investigate allegations of misconduct of its clergy members.

“The Anglican Church is investigating itself. A board can investigate, make findings and recom­men­dations. It cannot impose sanctions. It is only the archbishop or bishop who can mete out punishment. The process has gone full circle. The archbishop appoints the members of the committee and board which investigate and make findings and recommendations which go back to the archbishop who has full discretion to sanction or not.’’

Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier said the diocese was a joint founder of the company Kooyoora, which oversees the process, and paid the company for its services. “The church plays no role in investigations or appointments to Kooyoora’s PSB and PSC. The church authority’s role is to enact the determination in any matter,’’ he said.

The board found Dr Hollingworth guilty of seven of 10 counts of misconduct through his role as former archbishop of Brisbane.

Dr Hollingworth allowed two senior clergy to remain officiating even though he knew they were sexual abusers.