A matter has recently been filed in the Victorian Supreme Court against the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and George Pell for psychological injuries suffered by a father (“the Plaintiff”) whose son (“AAA”) was allegedly sexually abused by George Pell.
As a result of the alleged sexual abuse, AAA commenced using illicit drugs at the age of 14 and used drugs consistently until he died in 2014 from a heroin overdose caused by the psychological impact of the abuse. The proceedings were commenced on the basis that upon learning about the abuse of AAA, the Plaintiff suffered nervous shock.
The First Defendant in the proceedings brought an application stating that it was not able to be sued as the Legal Identity of Defendants (Organisational Child Abuse) Act 2018 (“the Act”) did not extend to it in these proceedings. A decision was handed down in relation to this argument on 24 August 2022 in RWQ v the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne & Ors [2022] VSC 483.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne sought to rely on the ‘Ellis Defence’ to defend the proceedings brought against them in the matter of RWQ v the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne & Ors [2022] VSC 483.
The ‘Ellis Defence’ was known as the defence arising from the case of Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney v Ellis & Anor [2007] NSWCA 117 in which the Diocese successfully argued that the trustees in each diocese were not responsible for the conduct of the clergy and there was no legal entity available to be sued in respect of the misconduct of the clergy themselves. This defence was scrutinised by the Royal Commission into Institutional responses to Child sexual abuse and shortly afterwards the Act was enacted to abolish this legal loophole in historic sexual abuse cases.
In the current case, the Court considered the purpose of the Act and ultimately concluded that it was to be interpreted by its plain meaning, which meant the inclusion of a claim for nervous shock brought by a parent of a child who had allegedly been sexually abused.
This decision marks another significant milestone in ensuring victims of historic sexual abuse are afforded redress. It accepts the enacted legislation is not only to protect those that endured institutionalised sexual abuse, but also their loved ones that have developed significant psychological injuries as a result of the sexual abuse.
If you or someone you know has been affected by historic sexual abuse, please reach out to Chamberlains Law Firm to help you with abuse compensation claims.
