The High Court of Australia recently dismissed the appeal lodged by the Catholic Church to dodge the responsibility of compensating a father, whose choirboy son was allegedly sexually assaulted by Cardinal Goerge Pell. This pivotal judgment reestablishes the prior dictum handed down by the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal, that the families of victims are entitled to seek damages as indirect sufferers of clerical sexual offenses.
The claim pertains to the case of RWQ v Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne & Ors [2022] VSC 483 where the father filed for emotional damage after being notified about his late son’s alleged sexual abuse by Cardinal Pell. The Victorian Supreme Court, in August 2022, contemplated whether the father could indeed initiate a claim for the mental anguish caused to him as an auxiliary victim of the abuse inflicted upon his deceased son.
The court ruled that the father’s case fell within the scope of a section 4(2) claim under the Legal Identify of Defendants (Organisational Child Abuse) Act 2018, arising from child maltreatment. The Archdiocese further appealed the judgment to the Victorian Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, which was subsequently denied. Subsequently, in August 2023, the Court of Appeal unilaterally upheld the earlier verdict deeming the Act applicable to RWQ’s matter.
Faced with repeated denials, the Church then filed for appeal against the verdict given on 25 August 2023 to the High Court, which was subsequently rejected. Deeming the Church’s appeal as one with “insufficient prospects of success,” the court declined the request, therefore upholding the original ruling, which extends the legal liability to secondary victims of child sexual assault.
This signifies that the relatives, friends, or any parties affiliated to survivors might potentially lodge civil suits for psychological trauma ’emerging from or associated with child abuse.’ Lisa Flynn, the Chief Legal Officer at Shine Lawyers, remarked on the judgment and called it an “important outcome” for victim-survivors and their loved ones.
Flynn added, “When a child is sexually abused, their whole family grapples with the resultant damage, including new family dynamics, altered behaviors, substance abuse, etc. Today, the top court in the nation affirmed that the church can be held accountable for that suffering.”
The father’s claim against the Church will now continue its course via the Supreme Court of Victoria.