Clergy to blame for abusing more boys

The institutional abusers of children across Australia have overwhelmingly been men, a royal commission has heard.

Counsel assisting Gail Furness addressing the public hearing at the royal commission into child sex abuse in Sydney yesterday.

The perpetrators of institutional child abuse across Australia have overwhelmingly been adult men, most commonly members of the clergy and their victims most likely to be boys aged between 10 and 14, a royal commission has heard.

The 57th and final public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse yesterday heard more than a third of child victims have reported abuse that went on for more than a year.

A similar proportion of the more than 6500 victims who have given evidence in private to the commissioners also said they had been abused by more than one person.

“The majority of perpetrators were adult males — that is, nearly 94 per cent of child abuse victims reported abuse by a male perpetrator,” counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC said. Almost a third of perpetrators were said to be clergy, a higher proportion than those in any other position. A fifth were teachers and 13 per cent were residential care workers.

More than 2000 of those victims who have given evidence in private reported sexual abuse in a Catholic institution, the commission heard. About 500 said they were abused in Anglican institutions and more than 250 reported abuse in institutions run by the Salvation Army.

“For many survivors, the impacts of child sexual abuse are profound and interconnected. They may be experienced at the same time or consecutively, as a cascade of effects over a lifetime,” Ms Furness said.

“Some people experience deep, complex trauma ... The ­effects ripple outwards, adversely affecting victims’ parents, siblings, partners, careers and children,” she said.

Almost half of child victims were aged between 10 and 14 when first abused, Ms Furness told the commission, although others were much younger, with 5 per cent saying they were under five when first assaulted.

While girls were more likely to be abused in domestic settings, ­almost two-thirds of those who reported institutional abuse were male, the commission heard. More than 1950 potential criminal cases have been referred to police since the royal commission began its work in early 2013.

In that time, the commission has held public hearings in every state and territory, forced the release of more than 1.2 million documents and identified more than 4000 institutions where abuse took place in recent decades.

While this is the final public hearing, the six commissioners will meet personally almost 2000 more child abuse victims over the next few months, taking the total who have attended these private sessions to about 8500.

“After this year, the community’s resources, both government and institutional, should be ­focused on providing effective ­redress and ... changes to ensure that so far as possible no child is abused in an institutional context in the future,” commission chairman Peter McClellan said.

“Survivors have waited too long for an effective response to their suffering and the future protection of Australian children must be given the highest priority,” he said.

The commission’s final report is due in December.