Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1950-1989 · 39 years · show in timeline

Sexual abuse in Catholic institutions in Australia (Royal Commission)

In private sessions the Australian Royal Commission heard 4,029 survivors of abuse in religious institutions; 2,489 of them, almost two thirds, reported abuse in Catholic institutions. From 1980 to 2015 Catholic bodies had received claims from 4,444 victims, against 1,880 accused known by name. On average 33 years passed before the abuse was reported. Until the 1990s bishops and religious superiors mostly dealt with the allegations in great secrecy; the victims were overlooked, which increased their suffering.

Period
1950-1989 (39 years)
Report published
15 December 2017
Country
Australia
Institutions
Catholic Church in Australia
Catholic religious orders and dioceses
Category
Sexual abuse, Cover-up
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. Of 4,029 survivors who told the commission in private sessions about abuse in religious institutions, 2,489 (61.8%) named Catholic institutions; the Catholic Church was the religious organisation named most frequently.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 4
    „of the 4,029 survivors who told us during private sessions about child sexual abuse in religious institutions, 2,489 survivors (61.8 per cent) told us about abuse in institutions managed by or affiliated with the Catholic Church“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 4. Original · Archive copy
  2. From 1980 to February 2015 Catholic bodies received claims from 4,444 victims in 4,756 cases. 1,880 accused were named, priests, religious brothers, religious sisters and lay people, plus 530 unknown persons. 41% of the claims were directed at male religious orders consisting exclusively of religious brothers.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 77
    „4,444 claimants6 alleged incidents of child sexual abuse in 4,756 reported claims to Catholic Church authorities“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 77. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80
    „The Catholic Church claims data identified a total of 1,880 alleged perpetrators (diocesan and religious priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, lay employees or volunteers). Additionally, 530 people whose identities were not known were the subject of claims“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 77
    „41 per cent were made to male religious institutes with only religious brother members“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 77. Original · Archive copy

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. Although many church leaders in Australia knew of allegations, there was no uniform procedure until the early 1990s. Bishops and religious superiors dealt with the allegations at their own discretion, mostly in great secrecy. This often did not stop the abuse and led to further serious harm to children.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5
    „Despite the fact that many Catholic Church leaders in Australia were aware of allegations of child sexual abuse by Catholic Church personnel, prior to the early 1990s there was no unified, national system for responding to such allegations“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5
    „handled complaints or allegations as they saw fit, usually under great secrecy. On many occasions, this resulted in responses that were ineffective in putting an end to the sexual abuse of children by individual perpetrators and to further significant harm to children“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. On average 33 years passed between the first abuse and the report; in 59% of the cases more than 30 years.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 79
    „was more than 30 years in 59 per cent of the claims, and more than 20 years in 81 per cent of claims.22 The average time between the first alleged incident date and the date the claim was received was 33 years“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 79. Original · Archive copy
  2. The victims were given little attention and the consequences of the abuse were not recognised, which increased their suffering. Until the mid to late 1990s the focus was mainly on dealing with the accused.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5
    „a lack of attention to the victims of child sexual abuse, and little or no appreciation of the effects of that abuse on them, led to further suffering“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5
    „focused primarily on dealing with the alleged perpetrators of abuse and generally overlooked the experience and needs of victims“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 5. Original · Archive copy

Witness accounts and records

Witness Parent of two abused children (pseudonym CNA), before the commission

I thought to myself, ‘What can I do? It is the word of two little boys against that of a Catholic priest.’ Catholic priests in 1974 were held in the highest esteem and were trusted by the community and their congregation.

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien): Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, Kap. 13.6, S. 291 (PDF-S. 301). Original · Archive copy

Background

Course of events

  1. 86% of the claims made to Catholic bodies concern abuse that began between 1950 and 1989; most first incidents fell in the 1970s.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2
    „86 per cent of claims involved alleged child sexual abuse that commenced in the period from 1950 to 1989 inclusive“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2. Original · Archive copy

Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)

  1. The commission found that Archbishop Frank Little of Melbourne did nothing to deny a priest access to children despite a complaint; the most likely reason was to protect the reputation of the Church. Under Little, a culture prevailed in the archdiocese of handling complaints internally and confidentially in order to spare the Church a scandal. The chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney testified that it was almost predictable that those responsible would defend the institution before they cared for a victim.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 130 (PDF-S. 140)
    „We found the most likely reason for inaction by Archbishop Little was to protect the reputation of the Church.“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 130 (PDF-S. 140). Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 238 (PDF-S. 248)
    „We were satisfied that there was a prevailing culture within the Archdiocese of Melbourne, led by Archbishop Frank Little, of dealing with complaints internally and confidentially to avoid scandal to the Catholic Church.“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 238 (PDF-S. 248). Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 234 (PDF-S. 244)
    „it’s almost predictable that people will try to defend the institution before they give care to a victim“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 234 (PDF-S. 244). Original · Archive copy

Who received the assets, who profited?

  1. Most compensation was obtained through civil proceedings (a total of 88.9 million dollars, on average 141,000 dollars per payment). Through the Church's own procedures "Towards Healing" and "Melbourne Response", victims received on average only about 47,000 dollars.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80
    „Of all redress processes, the highest amount of monetary compensation paid was through civil proceedings and ‘other’ redress processes ($88.9 million and $92.8 million, respectively)“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80
    „The highest average monetary compensation paid was through civil proceedings ($141,000 per payment). Towards Healing and the Melbourne Response had the lowest average payments“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien), Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80
    „of approximately $47,000 per payment in each case“
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, Bd. 16, Buch 2, S. 80. Original · Archive copy

See also

Original documents to read

  1. Government report
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Australien): Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report, Volume 16: Religious institutions, Book 2, 15 December 2017. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
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Last changed on 22 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.