Child Sexual Abuse, Society and the Future of the Church

In November 2012 the Australian federal government announced the establishment of a ‘Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’. This Royal Commission was set up after many years of reports of sexual abuse in Australia within religious institutions of various Christian churches, some state government inquiries and in the context of inquiries in other countries, most notably Ireland. The Royal Commission began its first hearing in April 2013. It has been forecast that th