The Ballarat Diocese has been found not liable for the historical sexual abuse of a young boy by a priest, in a landmark decision that casts doubts over thousands of legal cases against religious orders nationwide. Source: The Age.
The High Court yesterday overturned on appeal a previous ruling by Victoria’s Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that had found the Ballarat Diocese was legally responsible for the misconduct of its former priest, Bryan Coffey.
The relevant legislation did not provide a basis for imposing vicarious liability on the Church because the priest could not be legally considered as an employee, the High Court found.
The matter has already come to the attention of attorneys-general at state and federal levels, with the High Court conceding that “reformulation of the law of vicarious liability is properly the province of the legislature,” according to the judgment.
The diocese and its current bishop, Bishop Paul Bird CSsR, were sued in the Supreme Court of Victoria by a man who said he was sexually assaulted by Coffey at his parents’ home in Port Fairy in 1971. The man, known in court documents as DP, was five years old at the time of the abuse.
Coffey, who is now deceased, received a three-year suspended sentence in 1999 after being convicted of charges including false imprisonment and the indecent assaults of males and females under 16.
In December 2021, judge Jack Forrest found that the Church had vicarious liability because of the close relationship between the then-bishop, diocese and community.
Justice Forrest ordered DP receive $200,000 in damages for pain and suffering, $10,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 in other damages.
That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in April, following an appeal by the diocese and its lawyers.
The principal issue in the High Court appeal was whether the diocese could be held vicariously liable for abuse committed by Coffey, despite the priest not being formally employed by the diocese.
The nation’s highest court ruled the lower courts had overreached. The High Court said it had repeatedly refused to extend the boundaries of vicarious liability to include independent contractors.
Bishop Bird thanked the High Court for its “careful consideration of these complex areas of law” and said the diocese was examining the judgment and its implications.
FULL STORY
‘Free pass for sexually abusive clerics’: Catholic Church not liable, High Court rules (By Cameron Houston and Holly Hales, The Age with AAP)
RELATED COVERAGE
