Child sex abuse survivors’ chance to speak at national apology session in Wollongong

The federal government has included the city, which was initially left out of the in-person consultation process, on the back of lobbying by Labor MP – and outspoken supporter of child sex abuse victims – Stephen Jones.

Mr Jones, the federal Member for Whitlam, attended Edmund Rice College in the 1980s – a school he described as “a dumping ground for sexual predators that had offended elsewhere and been moved on”.

The MP addressed Parliament in support of victims, including some of his former classmates, in October 2016.

Mr Jones welcomed the government’s decision to include Wollongong among the 14 locations across the country where face-to-face sessions are being held.

“I’d encourage members of the Illawarra community who’ve got an interest in this, particularly survivors, to attend when the forum comes to town,” he said.

The Wollongong session, listed on the national apology consultation website as “to be confirmed”, is scheduled for July 25.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is due to deliver a national apology to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse in October.

The apology follows the release of the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in December.

The royal commission heard more than one in every nine Catholic priests in Wollongong were alleged child molesters between 1950 and 2010 – placing the Diocese of Wollongong in the top five areas with the highest proportion of priests who were alleged child sex abusers.

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