Updated: Australian Cardinal George Pell, acquitted of child sexual assault, dead at 81
Last updated: 8:15am, 12th January, 2023 (AEST)Rome, ItalyReuters Australian Cardinal George Pell, a leading Roman Catholic conservative and former top Vatican official who in 2020 was acquitted of sexual abuse allegations, died on Tuesday at the age of 81, his private secretary said. Fr Joseph Hamilton told Reuters that Pell died in a Rome hospital […]
New Zealand child abuse survivors call for intervention from Pope Francis
Sydney, AustraliaReuters A New Zealand group representing survivors of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has called on Pope Francis to intervene in the redress process, claiming that church authorities were mishandling it and retraumatising victims. In a letter sent to the Vatican and seen by Reuters, the New Zealand chapter of Survivors Network […]
Australia poised for inquiry into veteran suicide, PM says
Canberra, AustraliaReuters Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks set to announce a Royal Commission to examine veteran suicides, after a government backbench revolt over delays in establishing an inquiry. Morrison last year said his government would appoint a permanent national commissioner to investigate suicides among current and former military personnel amid rising public anger over […]
Essay: Four key takeaways from the aged care Royal Commission’s final report
In an article first published on The Conversation, STEPHEN DUCKETT and ANIKA STOBART, of the Grattan Institute, highlight key findings from Australia’s Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety…
Australia to boost spending on care for elderly after scathing report
Canberra, AustraliaReuters Australia will increase spending on care for the elderly by $A452 million after an inquiry concluded that one in three people is receiving substandard care. The Royal Commission report on Australia’s $A20 billion care industry was published on Monday, after more than 100 days of hearings. Care homes in Australia are mostly privately-run, […]
New Zealand inquiry finds 256,000 children and adults abused in state and faith-based care
Wellington, New ZealandReuters Up to a quarter of a million children, young people and vulnerable adults were abused in New Zealand’s faith-based and state care institutions in the past several decades, a public inquiry revealed on Wednesday. An interim report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic abuse of children in state care estimated […]
Australia needs national response to ‘alarming’ disaster future – enquiry
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia needs national coordination of disaster responses, a change to laws to allow country-wide state of emergencies and simplified climate-change projections, an enquiry into its worst bushfire season in a generation found on Friday. Inevitable climate change meant more frequent disasters and higher costs and more impact on hundreds of thousands of homes, […]
Sad, shocking: Inquiry finds Australia neglects older people
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters An inquiry into Australia’s providers of care for the elderly has found they fail to adequately look after the country’s old and vulnerable citizens, in a scathing assessment of the industry. The public investigation into mistreatment of the elderly in Australia’s $A20 billion aged-care industry that began in January is expected be followed […]
Australia announces disability inquiry as election looms
SydneyReuters Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in one of the government’s last moves before an imminent election, said on Friday a powerful public inquiry into the country’s disability care would run for three years and address abuse, neglect and exploitation problems in the sector. The Royal Commission will cost $A528 million and follows reports of […]
ESSAY: AUSTRALIA’S BANKING ROYAL COMMISSION – THE REAL PROBLEM IS HOW WE VALUE EXECUTIVES AND WORKERS
In an article first published on The Conversation, KYM SHEEHAN, senior lecturer in law at the University of Sydney, reflects on the findings of Justice Kenneth Hayne’s inquiry into the banking industry…