Tag Archives: terms of reference

Transparency Issues (Or: Judged By Your Betters)

Authority derives from legitimacy. Credibility derives from transparency. By these definitions, the Royal Commission has fair authority but lesser credibility, for a few reasons, which should be addressed. Established, under public pressure, by former Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the … Continue reading

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The Chief Commissioner Addresses a Fund-Raising Luncheon (Or: Get Out of Jail Free Cards Now on Offer)

The Chief Commissioner, Peter McClellan (see previous posting), has chosen a $180 a head fund-raising, invitation-only, luncheon for the Bravehearts organisation, to make a few announcements concerning the progress of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual … Continue reading

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Public Hearings Commence Soon (Or: No Legal Cash Cows, Please)

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse will finally commence public hearings on 16th September. It is going to cost a hell of a lot of money (even more than George Pell’s Roman holiday villa!). If the money is well … Continue reading

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The Courts As An Institution In The Royal Commission Context (Or: You Poor Man)

Image: Judge Peters (Source: Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385766/Attorney-General-set-examine-case-paedophile-spared-jail-prosecutor-said-13-year-old-victim-predatory.html The Australian Royal Commission is specifically charged with, and limited to, institutional responses to child sexual abuse. As has been noted in a previous posting, there may be questions regarding just what constitutes … Continue reading

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Onus on the Military (Or: Military Secrets)

Image: Manly Village Public School Cadets – 1913 The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has very wide terms of reference as to what institutions it will cover. Besides churches, organisations such as the military will … Continue reading

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The NSW Enquiry Continues (Or: Bias or Lazy Journalism?)

Image: Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox at the NSW enquiry this week (Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/01/nsw-church-child-abuse-inquiry) In her opening address to the second session of the NSW government enquiry into clerical child sexual abuse in the Newcastle-Maitland diocese, Commissioner Ms Cunneen said: … Continue reading

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Other Abuse (Or: Setting the Scene)

Psychological, spiritual, and systems abuse do not directly fall under the terms of reference of the Royal Commission. As was detailed in yesterday’s posting, organisations will be happy to have these issues excluded in order to suffer less damage to … Continue reading

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The Terms of Reference Revisited, Part 1 (Or: Still a Host of Devils in the Detail)

The previous posting on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission only covered the most basic aspects. The problems arising from them will take a much more thorough coverage. The principal issue to be addressed is that of covering … Continue reading

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The Salvation Army (Or: The War on Kids)

[Disclosure: The author was an inmate of the Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly, Brisbane from 1958 to 1960 and appeared, in 2004, in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s TV programme, “The Homies” on Four Corners, which detailed abuses in … Continue reading

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Where Are We Now? (Or: The First Steps in a 1,000-Step Journey)

The entries so far have focused on the background issues surrounding the royal commission, including terms of reference, commissioners, and ancillary players – counsel assisting, Attorneys-General, and the Catholic PR unit. The royal commission has yet to appoint all staff … Continue reading

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