Church Pledges Cooperation With Inquiry
2 August 2003
The Anglican Church in Tasmania has pledged to support any Government Inquiry into issues of child abuse.
The Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend John Harrower, spoke of his support today. He said, 'The issue of abuse is a very significant one across our community. I have been calling on the Federal Government since May 2002 to institute a Royal Commission into this issue, as it affects many organisations and families. We are encouraged by the steps the State Government and Ombudsman are currently taking to deal with matters relating to foster families and wards of the State. '
Bishop Harrower pledged the support of the Church to co-operate fully with any future Inquiry, State or Federal, saying, 'We have been working hard to bring the issue of abuse into the open, and continue to call for any past victims of abuse within the Anglican Church to contact our independent Help-Line on 1800 017 286 or to approach the Police.
'We have implemented a Safe Ministry program across the Church which proactively works to prevent abuse, and are continuing to look for further ways of making sure this can never happen again. We would greatly value the resources of Government in dealing with these matters.'
Contact:
Media Officer - Rev. Stephen Carnaby 0417 343 710
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