Coroner & Legal
Whistleblower exposed as sex abuse royal commission to begin
The historic Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will begin in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne today.
The commission will look at religious organisations, state care providers, not-for-profit bodies, as well as child service agencies and police forces and what can be done so that the victims have justice.
The commission’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, will today provide information on how future private and public hearings will be conducted.
The senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, will also deliver an opening statement.
Victims and witnesses will not take part in today’s proceedings.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the royal commission in November last year, a week after explosive allegations made by a senior detective in the NSW police force.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox alleged in an interview with Lateline last year that the Catholic Church hierarchy protects paedophile priests, silences investigations and destroys critical evidence to avoid prosecution.
But Chief Inspector Fox has told the ABC’s 7.30 program that NSW Police have informed him he will not be considered a whistleblower.
He says that decision leaves him open to litigation.
The commission is set to run until December 2015 and has been compared to a similar inquiry in Ireland, which lasted a decade.
The Government is due to deliver an interim report by the middle of next year.