Case studies
Case studies
The Royal Commission held 57 formal public hearings during which it heard evidence about child sexual abuse within institutions, from 1,200 witnesses over 400 days of hearings, across all Australian capital cities and in several regional areas. These case studies focused on how institutions have responded to allegations and proven instances of child sexual abuse.
The Royal Commission was not a court of law and could not make decisions about criminal matters. Rather, the Commissioners delivered recommendations based on what they learned during public hearing. Visit individual case study pages to view the findings, witness lists, transcripts, exhibits, images and associated submissions.
The Royal Commission held its First Sitting at the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday 3 April 2013.
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The public hearing examined the response of institutions, including Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Services and the then Department of Community Services, to information and allegations concerning Steven Larkins, the former CEO of Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services.
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The public hearing examined the responses of YMCA NSW to allegations made in 2011 that Jonathon Lord sexually abused children in the care of YMCA.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton to child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home.
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The public hearing examined the experiences of four survivors with the Towards Healing process by the Catholic Church.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Salvation Army to child sexual abuse at boys’ homes in Indooroopilly, Riverview, Bexley and Goulburn.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Toowoomba, to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing examined the experience of women who were sexually abused as children, between 1950-1974 while committed in The Parramatta Girls’ Training School and The Institution for Girls in Hay.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Catholic Church to the complaint made by John Ellis under Towards Healing.
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The public hearing examined the responses of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, and the South Australian Police, to allegations of child sexual abuse at St Ann’s Special School.
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The public hearing examined the responses of The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) to claims of child sexual abuse between 1993 and 2014.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Congregation of Christian Brothers in Western Australia to child sexual abuse at Castledare Junior Orphanage, St Vincent’s Orphanage Clontarf, St Mary’s Agricultural School Tardun and Bindoon Farm School.
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The public hearing examined the response of an independent school in Perth to concerns raised between 1999 and 2009 by teachers and others about another teacher.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse in schools in the ACT, NSW and Queensland.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong to allegations of child sexual abuse against John Gerard Nestor.
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The public hearing examined the response of Swimming Australia Ltd to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing examined the principles, practices and procedures of the Melbourne Response.
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The public hearing examined the responses of the Australian Indigenous Ministries, the Australian and Northern Territory governments and the Northern Territory police force and prosecuting authorities to allegations child sexual abuse at the Retta Dixon Home.
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The public hearing examined the responses by Australian Christian Churches (a Pentecostal movement in Australia) and two affiliated churches to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing examined the responses of the State to complaints made and litigation instituted by former residents of Bethcar Children’s Home, Brewarrina, New South Wales.
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The public hearing examined the responses by the Hutchins School and the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania to allegations of child sexual abuse at the School.
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The public hearing examined the response of Satyananda Yoga Ashram to allegations of child sexual abuse by the Ashram’s former spiritual leader in the 1970s and 1980s.
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The hearing examined the response of Yeshivah Melbourne and Yeshiva Bondi to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing examined the response of Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga, New South Wales and the Uniting Church in Australia between 1970 and 2012 to concerns raised about inappropriate conduct by a number of teachers towards students at Knox Grammar School.
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The public hearing examined preventing child sexual abuse in out-of-home care and responding to allegations of child sexual abuse occurring in out-of-home care.
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The public hearing enabled invited persons and institutions to speak to their written submissions to the Royal Commission's consultation paper on redress and civil litigation.
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The public hearing examined the experiences of a number of men and women who were resident at St Joseph's Orphanage, Neerkol operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975.
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The public hearing examined the policies and procedures of the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, the Medical Council of NSW, the Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, New South Wales Ministry of Health and the Royal Children’s Hospital, Victoria with respect to allegations of child sexual abuse in private medical practices and public hospitals.
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The Royal Commission held hearings in Ballarat, Melbourne and Sydney over multiple dates in 2015 and 2016.
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The public hearing examined the response of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Bible Tract Society of Australia to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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A directions hearing was held in Sydney on Friday 10 July 2015.
The purpose of the directions hearing was to hear from Catholic Church Insurances Limited in relation to a summons to produce documents.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of former child residents at Turana Youth Training Centre, Winlaton Youth Training Centre and Baltara Reception Centre between the 1960s and early 1990s.
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The public hearing heard the evidence of retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson regarding the history and development of the Catholic Church's response to child sexual abuse prior to the introduction of Towards Healing.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of former students of Geelong Grammar School, Victoria.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of former child residents at institutions operated by The Salvation Army (Southern Territory) between 1940 and 1990.
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The public hearing inquired into the experience of former students of Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul’s School in Queensland.
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The Royal Commission held hearings in Melbourne and Sydney over multiple dates in 2015 and 2016.
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The public hearing inquired into the response of the Church of England Boys' Society and the Anglican Dioceses of Tasmania, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of children who received dance instruction at RG Dance Pty Ltd in Chiswick NSW, and former students of the Australian Institute of Music in Surry Hills, NSW, between 2002 and 2011.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse in an institutional context in the criminal justice system as complainants against an accused who was the subject of allegations by more than one complainant. It will focused on the experiences of survivors, particularly young children and people with disability, in reporting to police and in relation to oral evidence and cross examination.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of men and women who were sexually abused as children in sporting clubs.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of men and women who were sexually abused as children in certain divisions of the Australian Defence Force.
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The public hearing inquired into responses of disability service providers to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and lay people involved in or associated with the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.
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The public hearing inquired into the response of Catholic Church authorities in the Maitland-Newcastle region to allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy and religious.
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The public hearing inquired into the responses of Catholic Church authorities to allegations of child sexual abuse made against John Joseph Farrell.
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The public hearing inquired into to the response by schools to allegations of problematic or harmful sexual behaviours by students at those schools.
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The public hearing inquired into issues raised in the Royal Commission’s Consultation Paper on Criminal Justice.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of YMCA New South Wales in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Scouts New South Wales in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of The Salvation Army in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Catholic Church Authorities in Australia in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Commonwealth, State and Territory governments in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Anglican Church Authorities in Australia in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Yeshivah Melbourne and Yeshiva Bondi in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Australian Christian Churches and affiliated Pentecostal churches in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the current policies and procedures of Uniting Church in Australia in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.
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The public hearing inquired into the nature, cause and impact of child sexual abuse in institutional contexts in Australia.
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The Royal Commission held its Final Sitting in Sydney on Thursday 14 December 2017.
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