Ballarat Royal Commission Pell
Title: Ballarat Royal Commission report could be released ‘within weeks’, says Attorney-General
Author: Alex Ford with Jolyon Attwooll
Publisher: The Canberra Times
Date: 10APR2020
The federal Attorney-General, Christian Porter, said redactions to a key piece of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s final report could be lifted within “a couple of weeks”.
The report’s Case Study 28, which focused on the Catholic Church in Ballarat, includes testimony from Cardinal George Pell, which were redacted to avoid influencing further criminal trials when it was released in December 2017.
However, since Cardinal Pell’s acquittal this week, the focus has turned to when those passages will be released to the public.
Speaking to media in Canberra last week, Mr Porter said the report should be tabled in parliament without the redactions.
“It does require some liaison between my office and Victorian authorities – investigative and prosecutorial – to make sure that further tabling with less redaction would not prejudice any future investigations of a number of types. That could take a number of weeks,” he said.
For more information visit: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6718898/redacted-royal-commission-report-on-ballarat-abuse-could-be-released-within-weeks/?cs=14231