UPDATE
Case Study No 3
The public hearing
examined how the Anglican Diocese of Grafton in New South Wales handled claims
of abuse from former residents of the North Coast Children’s Home, including
whether policies and procedures were applied consistently and fairly.
Forty claimants, half of
whom claimed to have suffered sexual abuse, brought a group claim against the
Diocese.
It reached a settlement
with most claimants in 2007, but later received further claims from new
claimants….
Findings have not yet
been made in this case study.
The North Coast Children's Home was first set up in
1919, when two young orphaned and neglected children were given into the care
of the Vicar of St Andrews, the Reverend A. R. Ebbs. Those children were given
temporary shelter until a local resident, a Mr George Barnard, offered the
children the use of a house which he owned in Lismore, free of rent. There was
public interest in the establishment of an orphanage in the town of Lismore.
The placement of children at the Home continued, but its structure was not
formalised until 1951, when a constitution for the home was prepared (Exhibit F
to the affidavit of Mr Todd Yourell, 3 July 2014). The Management Committee was
not incorporated, until 16 May 1989, when the relevant documents were lodged at
the Corporate Affairs Commission registry in accordance with
the Associations Incorporations Act 1984 (NSW).
Mr Yourell's affidavit sets out that the Church of
England's role in relation to the Home continued, but on a restricted basis.
Since 1989, the Bishop of the Diocese of Grafton has held powers enabling him
to appoint up to four members of the Board of Governance, which is responsible
for the affairs of the first plaintiff (hereafter referred to as
"CASPA"). The Board of Governance is responsible for the affairs of
CASPA and acts in the interests of CASPA. Prior to incorporation in 1989 the
Anglican Diocese of Grafton was responsible for the affairs of North Coast
Children's Home.
It was while the Anglican Diocese of Grafton was
responsible for the affairs of North Coast Children's Home, prior to 1989, that
substantial and serious abuse of children at the home occurred. Orphaned and
neglected children in the care of the home were victims of sexual, physical and
psychological abuse. As is common in relation to victims of institution-based
abuse, there were few complaints at the time, and those which were made were
ignored, disbelieved and/or discouraged.
The Anglican Diocese of
Grafton received a number of complaints in 2006 about historical acts of
physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the North Coast Children's Home in
Lismore, all of which occurred between the 1940s and 1980s. Thirty-nine of
those claims were settled through negotiated payments. Two of those persons did
not participate in the settlement, and instead brought proceedings. Seven
others later came forward with similar claims. The Right Reverend Keith Slater,
who acknowledged that he did not pass on all the complaints to the Church's
Professional Standards Director as was required, resigned as Bishop in May 2013.
While the nature and
extent of the abuses which occurred are the subject of current inquiry and
evidence, the nature and extent of the inquiry currently being undertaken by
the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse ("the
Royal Commission") relates to periods well before the employment of the
second and third plaintiff, and well before the first plaintiff, which is no
longer a part of the Anglican Church but a separate organisation. It is neither
controlled by, nor answerable to, the Anglican Church. As Mr Yourell points out
in paragraphs 20-24 of his affidavit (Exhibit F), the Royal Commission is
considering a case study of the home during its operation by the Anglican
Church in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 40 years ago, but not into its present
operation.
