VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA: Child Abuse Inquiry - submissions from religions and institutions are now publicly available on the government website
Submissions prepared by religions and organisations to the Victoria, Australia, Parliamentary Family and Community Development Committee's "Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Organisations" have now been officially released.
Interestingly, a common pattern emerged from all submissions made by religions, namely, full compliance with the Working with Children laws for all religious personnel, staff, and volunteers. Many religions, including the Catholic Church, have adopted a blanket approach for all 'ministers of religions' and volunteers with regards to compliance with the Working with Children Act 2005.
Another point worthy of mentioning is that all religions and organisations have adopted, and have made publicly available a Child Protection Policy, a Working With Children Protocol, a Child Abuse Handling Policy, and a Privacy Policy.
Victoria Police also made a submission in which they launched an attack on the Catholic Church in relation to interfering with police investigations into child abuse. The Catholic Church has now placed a "gag" order on all priests and religious personnel prohibiting them from talking to the media or the public about the Inquiry.
Notably absent was any submission made by the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watch Tower Society.
An interesting submission came from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their 65 page submission was submitted with the follow letter published on page 2...
Re: Inquiry Into The Handling Of Child Abuse By Religious And Other Organisations
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Victoria wishes to congratulate the Victorian Parliament on their decision to implement a Parliamentary Inquiry Into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.
As a Church organisation we welcome this opportunity to review our Policies, Procedures and Protocols and are pleased to submit our response in relation to the Inquiry's Terms of Reference.
The Victorian Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church places a high value on the care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable persons. The Church considers that the Bible highlights a 'Spiritual Imperative' to provide for the safety of children, youth and vulnerable persons. These individuals are perceived to be precious gifts from God entrusted to the care of parents, family, community of faith and society-at-large. The Church believes that children possess enormous potential for making positive contributions to the Church and to society. Attention to their care, protection and development is therefore extremely important and an honourable and humbling privilege.
Yours sincerely
Pr. Wayne Stanley
President
Victorian Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Copies of the submissions made by various religions and organisations can be downloaded from the FCDC government web site. See below link:
Public and personal submissions, including from victims, will be published once they have been formally accepted and processed by the Inquiry Committee.
Public hearings commence on Friday, October 19, 2012, at Parliament House, Melbourne.
JW LEAKS