At 10am this morning 11 February the High Court handed down its judgement on the appeal by AA against the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

The judgement is significant, running to 200 pages with dissenting opinion from some of the justices.

The Diocese respects the Australian judicial system and will require some time to work through the complexities of the judgement prior to making public comment.

Nevertheless, the Diocese is pleased that AA now has certainty as to his appeal.

The past is with us today.  The Diocese continues to acknowledge the shameful aspects of its history where children and vulnerable adults suffered abuse, and some of its leaders failed to protect them from harm.  The pain and damage caused is current each day for some survivors and their families.

Zimmerman Service – Healing and Support continues to provide a highly personalised pastoral response and can be contacted during office hours Monday to Friday 02 4923 0636 or via email [email protected]

If a diocesan employee, volunteer, parishioner, cleric or religious has any concerns for the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or vulnerable adult, please contact the Office of Safeguarding during office hours Monday to Friday 02 4979 1390, via email [email protected] or through an online report (which can be done anonymously) Online reporting abuse page.

-ENDS-