Abuse in Catholic Church remains a ‘live issue,’ Labor MP Dave Kelly claims after shocking numbers revealed

There are growing calls for Perth’s Catholic Archbishop to force the Christian Brothers to share what they know about child sexual abuse at a parliamentary inquiry. Labor MP Dave Kelly says he’s shocked the Catholic Church in Perth has referred dozens of alleged sexual abusers of children to the police in the last five years, and demanded the Archbishop push the Christian Brothers to share what they know. Mr Kelly, a member of a parliamentary inquiry examining the options available to survivors of institutional abuse, said the number of allegations reported showed it was still a “live issue”. “I think there has been a view among some members of the public that this issue has been dealt with and that we’ve got over the problem,” he said. On Wednesday, the inquiry released a letter from the WA professional standards office which revealed the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth had referred 50 allegations of child sexual abuse to police between January 2018 and July 2023. The accusations related to 71 alleged perpetrators. All allegations occurred prior to January 2018 and relate to historical abuse. The Bassendean MP went to Christian Brothers College in Fremantle, a Catholic school that employed paedophile Daniel McMahon in the 1960s and 1970s. He said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe should put pressure on the Christian Brothers to appear at the inquiry. The Brothers cancelled an appearance at the inquiry at the last minute in July. The Brothers claimed the committee had not reassured them it would not ask questions about matters before the courts — an explanation denied by Mr Kelly and inquiry chair Dr David Honey. The Archdiocese confirmed at the time they had no plans to expel the Brothers from the diocese for failing to engage with the inquiry and had “no comment” on their position. Mr Kelly said getting information from the Church had been difficult. “They are obviously sitting on a large amount of information, and they should be prepared to share it with the public,” he said. The inquiry will hand down its report next week. Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; Sexual Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 888