THE survivors' group pushing for a Newcastle memorial to the victims of institutional child sexual abuse says the project must be finished in time for the fifth anniversary of the National Apology, a year from today.
Clergy Abused Network (CAN) spokesperson Bob O'Toole said yesterday that planning was well under way on a Newcastle memorial.
Mr O'Toole said CAN had been working with the Catholic and Anglican dioceses of the region and the City of Newcastle, and it was his understanding that Centennial Park in Cooks Hill had been chosen for the site.
"We were taken there and shown around and although the final decision on where it would be had not been made, it was Centennial Park," Mr O'Toole said.
But the council and the Anglican diocese both said when the Newcastle Herald inquired that a final site had not been chosen.
The Catholic diocese said the council was leading the project and the diocese would be "one of many financial contributors to the memorial".
The National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse was delivered in Canberra on Monday, October 22, 2018, by the prime minister at the time, Scott Morrison.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had handed down its final report in December 2017, and one of the commission's recommendations was for a national memorial to victims.
The chosen design, a walkway of glass arches, titled "Transparency and Truth", is going ahead on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, with federal backing.
Mr O'Toole said churches were not the only abusers and a survey had backed a Newcastle memorial in a public setting.
One Catholic survivor said many wanted a memorial at Sacred Heart Cathedral so that churchgoers would have a permanent reminder of "what was done".
The Herald reported in April last year that the Catholic diocese had called for public input into the proposed memorial, and had hired a Newcastle public relations firm to conduct an "independent period of consultation".
Mr O'Toole said this had included an online survey and it was his understanding that the majority of survivors wanted a memorial in a public place.
He said this reflected both the large number of institutions involved in child sexual abuse, but also a view that having a memorial inside the grounds of a religious institution could re-traumatise victims or stop them from visiting it.
"We were taken to Centennial park and shown around and although the final decision on where it would be within the park had not been made, it was Centennial Park," Mr O'Toole said.
Mr O'Toole said four years had passed since the national apology, and the time to build the memorial was overdue.
"As far as we are concerned, that memorial needs to be there on the next anniversary of the apology, in a year's time," Mr O'Toole said.
Asked to confirm this, the City of Newcastle said: "We are supporting survivor groups, the community and working collaboratively with all stakeholders for the most appropriate location for a memorial to the victims of institutional child sexual abuse in Newcastle.
"Community consultation will need to be undertaken to determine the final site and memorial details."
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Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, Peter Stuart, said "the final place of recognition has not been finalised".
"Earlier this year, with the support of Father Greg Barker, the Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, I reached out to the Lord Mayor to see if the City of Newcastle would be able to help provide a place to remember the survivors of child sexual abuse," Bishop Stuart said.
"Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes was empathetic to the needs of survivors and wanted to help.
"A consultation process is still underway with a further meeting planned with the Lord Mayor in the coming weeks."
As the Herald has reported, a memorial was installed at the Marist Brothers school, St Francis Xavier College, Hamilton, in 2019.
Survivors say the memorial is visited regularly, with people often sitting quietly to meditate on the past.
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