Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
| Inquiries | Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse |
|---|---|
| Commissioners |
The Honourable Justice Peter McClellan AM (Chief) Bob Atkinson AO APM The Honourable Justice Jennifer Coate Robert Fitzgerald AM Helen Milroy Andrew Murray |
| Inquiry period | 13 January 2013 – present |
| Constituting instrument | Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) |
| Website | childabuseroyalcommission |
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is a royal commission established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and report upon responses by institutions to instances and allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia. The establishment of the commission followed revelations of child abusers being moved from place to place instead of their abuse and crimes being reported. There were also revelations that adults failed to try to stop further acts of child abuse. The commission will examine the history of abuse in educational institutions, religious groups, sporting organisations, state institutions and youth organisations.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia surfaced in the Roman Catholic Church and a number of other religious and non-religious institutions. Some of these allegations led to a number of convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Roman Catholic priests and members of religious orders. Some of the allegations relate to alleged incidents that occurred during the 1950s, others in more recent times. There were calls for a Royal Commission since the late 1990s.
Similar allegations against the Roman Catholic Church had occurred in the United States, Ireland, Canada, Belgium, and several other European countries. In Ireland, the Government Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 2000 and presented its final report to the Dáil in 2009, covering allegations of child abuse from 1936 onwards.
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