Arrest and tax those who would cover-up child abuse

In a case like this, a bishop should be arrested, charged and face gaol. Until that happens government andthe law is sending a signal to bishops and others in similar positions of authority, be they religious or secular, that to conceal a crime in order to protect the reputation of the charitable institution is perfectly acceptable.

The phrase that immediately springs to mind is that bishops and others in these situations are "perverting the course of justice". But this crime does not adequately cover the situation. Perverting the course of justice entails only

• intimidating a case witness or juror;
• threatening a judge;
• disposing of, or fabricating, evidence.

Another possibility is "accessory after the fact." This crime involves a person who has knowledge of a particular offence having been committed, harbouring or giving aid to the person who has committed the offence. But an abuser would have to be convicted first, and his protector would have to have some intention to allow his abuse to continue. So that approach does not work either.

The only recourse in law as it stands is mandatory reporting requirements for suspected cases of child abuse. Guess what? It is only in South Australia, thanks to Senator Xenophon, that ministers of religion and employees or volunteers in religious organisations are required to report abuse - but disclosures of abuse made within the confessional are excepted. The Northern Territory goes further: it mandates every citizen to report abuse.

So why haven't other states and the ACT legislated to follow South Australia's lead? If ever there was an example of politicians' fear of religious backlash, this is it. The welfare of abused children is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

Then there is the question of whether a charitable institution should lose its tax-exempt status when it is discovered their personnel have been involved in a criminal cover-up. The question arose at this year's Senate inquiry into whether the law defining charity should be amended to recognise that if a charitable institution does something that was not a benefit to the public, it should lose its tax-exempt status.

The inquiry was prompted by Senator Xenophon's concerns about the behaviour of members of the Church of Scientology. This church had lost its charitable status in Britain when their Charities Commission decided that the church did not provide a public benefit. The idea was that Australian law could be amended to bring the British idea into play here.

The Catholic Church realised that laws apply to all and that the significant amount of child abuse which has been proven to have occurred in its ranks could also fall under the category of not being a public benefit. Their institutions' tax-exempt status could be vulnerable.

On 29 June 2010 Father Brian Lucas, a lawyer, and now general-secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, gave evidence on behalf of the church. On that day Senator Xenophon, also a lawyer, had his De Valera moment.

Eamon De Valera was the cerebral and very patriotic Catholic activist who fought for the liberation of Ireland from British rule. He subsequently became Ireland's second prime minister and first president. In 1921, unable to successfully counter Irish guerrilla warfare, the British decided to negotiate. The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, then came face to face with de Valera. He described negotiations with De Valera as "trying to pick up mercury with a fork."

So it was for Senator Xenophon. He asked Brian Lucas "what happens in circumstances where there are allegations or evidence of child abuse, the hierarchy of the organisation becomes aware of that and they do not act appropriately - they either do not report it to the authorities which would be an offence in terms of the requirement to notify that in most states, or they actually cover it up?" (This question was not strictly accurate in terms of religious organisations as only SA and the NT have mandated reporting as noted above.)