Peter Hollingworth’s sex abuse hearing shut to the public

Potentially damaging evidence of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth’s handling of the child sex abuse crisis will be kept secret.

Peter Hollingworth arrives at the Victorian Bar Mediation Centre on Monday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Potentially damaging evidence of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth’s handling of the child sex abuse crisis will be kept secret despite attempts by a ­survivor to have the Anglican Church-inspired proceedings made open to the public.

Lawyer Judy Courtin for complainant Beth Heinrich argued in a submission to the Professional Standards Board on Monday that Dr Hollingworth had received as much as $12m worth of taxpayer-funded pension and benefits after being forced out as governor-general in 2003.

Ms Courtin argued that it was in the public interest and the interests of open justice that the whole of the proceedings be held in public, but The Australian and other media were denied access to the tribunal in Melbourne’s law precinct.

However, it is expected that Ms Heinrich will be able to sit in on any hearings that relate to her complaint against Dr Hollingworth, who wrongly claimed that as a teenager she had encouraged abuse committed against her by a senior church figure.

“The objectives and outcomes of the decision-making process of the PSB are matters of public importance and it is self-evidently in the public interest that they be open and transparent, as should be its processes and procedures,” Ms Courtin argued in correspondence with the board.

Dr Hollingworth is facing several complaints from his time as archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s and as governor-general between 2001 and 2003 and could be defrocked by the Diocese of Melbourne under the internal disciplinary process set up by the church but billed as independent by the Anglican organisation.

Aged 87, Dr Hollingworth ­arrived at the Victorian Bar ­Mediation Centre with a large contingent, using a walking stick for support and wearing a grey suit and blue tie. He appeared frail and did not respond to questions about his day at the tribunal.

It took five years for Dr Hollingworth to be brought to face questions raised by as many as 12 complainants. The process is highly secretive and a member of Dr Hollingworth’s group said the former governor-general was not allowed to discuss the hearings.

Ms Heinrich, aged in her 80s, said she expected to attend the tribunal on Tuesday, where her victim impact statement may be read.

“Dr Hollingworth needs to know this is just the beginning,” she said.

Dr Hollingworth allowed a pedophile priest in 1993 to continue to work against a specialist’s advice, gave incorrect evidence to a 2002 abuse inquiry, and blamed Ms Heinrich for encouraging offending against her by a man who rose to become a bishop.

Ms Heinrich was sexually abused as a teenager by late Anglican bishop Donald Shearman, who was later deposed from holy orders. She said Shearman had formed a sexual relationship with her when she was sent to a church hostel. Dr Hollingworth created a storm when he claimed: “There was no suggestion of rape or anything like that; quite the contrary. My information is it was rather the other way around.”

Dr Hollingworth has contested how the quote was reported.

Monday marked the end of a five-year battle by survivors for Dr Hollingworth to be brought before the board, which has a ­series of options that include defrocking him, as well as less punitive responses.

There has been speculation about his health but, while showing his age, Dr Hollingworth was able to move with the aid of a walking stick about 100m to a waiting car when the first day’s proceedings ended.

The secrecy surrounding the PSB process means there is very little information available on what investigators are examining.

Dr Hollingworth was never an abuser but was condemned by survivors over his actions when he was an archbishop and commentary he made while he was governor-general.