Report welcome

By Kath Gannaway
A FORMER Healesville teacher who gave evidence to an inquiry has welcomed its recommendations to toughen child protection laws in relation to religous organisations.
The Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry report, released last week, said religious organisations should be forced to report suspicions of child abuse.
Pam Krstic was a teacher at St Brigid’s Primary School in Healesville when two of the parish priests, Fr David Daniel and Fr Paul Pavlou, were associated with the school.
Both were later convicted of child sex abuse charges.
The report also calls for a formal investigation into how religious organisations respond to criminal abuse of children by religious personnel in their organisations.
Ms Krstic, a member of the Melbourne Victims Collective, presented its submission.
“Basically, the submission was about what happened here in Healesville,” Ms Krstic said.
“The commissioners were very interested in what we had to say and as a result the inquiry was extended for three months to look into it.”
The inquiry, led by The Honourable P D Cummins, was presented to the Minister for Community Services, Mary Wooldridge, in January.
It covers a raft of reforms to protect children from abuse and neglect and includes recommendations which have been referred to the Victorian Attorney General.
The mother of one of the Healesville victims spoke to the Mail in July 2010 calling for mandatory reporting of child abuse to be extended to the hierarchy of the Melbourne Archdiocese of the Catholic Church.
She claimed Carelink, part of the church’s Melbourne Response team, withheld information from her about disclosures made to them by her son which later led to Fr Pavlou being convicted of possessing child pornography and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Bishop Les Tomlinson, for the Archdiocese said, however, that Carelink and the church’s Independent Commissioner Peter O’Callaghan were respecting the boy’s wishes that his mother not be informed.
She called for the same mandatory reporting which applies to teachers in Catholic schools to be extended to include members of Carelink and the Melbourne Response.
Ms Krstic said the recommendations had not singled out the Catholic Church.
“It is quite right that all organisations should be publicly accountable to the community for the way in which they ensure the safety of children and obey the laws of the land,” she said.
She said in relation to the proposed investigation it would require a brave government to follow through on the recommendation.
“These inquiries have been held around the world, in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Ireland and the UK, and while the Catholic Church has and still has a great deal of power in the halls of power, governments are getting stronger,” (against religious organisations) Ms Krstic said.
The recommendation recognises that both recommendations would require legislative reform and puts a time frame of one to three years on both the Crimes Act to be amended in terms of mandatory reporting, and to have a formal investigation completed.
“This is a call to victims to find their voice and speak the truth,” Ms Krstic said.