Church culture helped abuse go undetected

A culture of ignoring children helped child sex abuse go undetected, the Anglican Church says. Source: AAP

CHILDREN complaining of sex abuse were rarely believed and sometimes punished under a culture in church and community organisations that helped the crime go undetected, Melbourne's Anglican archbishop says.

Archbishop Philip Freier said an unwillingness to face up to difficult and shameful things had created opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do so.

Since the 1950s the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has received 46 complaints of child sex abuse, the majority of which were perpetrated by the clergy, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry heard on Monday.

Twenty-six of these allegations were received after 2002.

"As you look backwards you can see broadly as a culture we've not readily listened to children when they've made complaints," Dr Freier told the inquiry.

"There have been opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do that and often for children's accounts of that trust being broken, being disbelieved.

"Some were even punished for having raised a question about the conduct of an adult."

He said this was the case for many community organisations not just churches.

Dr Freier said the church had strived to ensure all priests were made aware of their responsibilities but acknowledged in the past there had been gaps in the system.

"We've always had high expectations and I expect that as a culture, churches generally, and community organisations have not had the necessary checks and balances," Dr Freier said.

However the Anglican Church's requirement that allegations of criminal misconduct be reported to police only applies to contemporaneous complaints.

Dr Freier said in the cases of historic abuse the church encouraged people to work with a solicitor.

He acknowledged the church's responsibility to report, but said they didn't want to risk "revictimising" the complainant.

Of the 46 complaints recorded by the church, 12 were reported to police and 20 were not, according to the church's independent director of professional standards, Claire Sargent.

She said the church's policy is to always report current allegations of child sex abuse but not historic allegations.

"If someone has knowledge they are required to report that," Ms Sargent said.

Dr Freier said he wished he could undo the harm that had been done.

"It is unfortunate that we cannot change the past, I wish I could - but I give a real and genuine commitment to enhance the processes and culture of our organisation," he told the inquiry.

"The abuse of children has no place in our society."

Since 2003, there have been 10 financial settlements for child sex abuse totalling $268,000 in the Melbourne diocese.

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