Anglican Church ‘deeply ashamed’ about 1,000 complaints of child sex abuse, royal commission hears

Every Anglican Church diocese in the country bar one has received complaints of child sexual abuse in the past 35 years, a report finds.

The Anglican Church says it is ashamed that between 1980 and 2015 there were 1,082 complaints of child sexual abuse, with 22 of the 23 dioceses reporting at least one complaint.

The Diocese of Brisbane (371) received the most complaints followed by the Diocese of Adelaide (155).

The figures were revealed in the first day of the final hearing into the Anglican Church by the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

It was also reported that only 25 per cent of complainants had received an apology from the church and the average compensation payment was $67,000.

The average age of victims was 11 years old, 75 per cent were men and the average time taken to report the abuse was 29 years.

Source: Anglican Church ‘deeply ashamed’ about 1,000 complaints of child sex abuse, royal commission hears – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)