In early July 2008, serious accusations about the management of sexual abuse claims by the Australian Catholic Church came to the public attention. Considerable debate on this current round is available in the Australian media but the ABC show Lateline started the running on the matter. A useful starting point is an ABC news report on the initial claims.
This week I was conducting some OHS update sessions for a client in which I outlined that one of the objectives of Victoria’s OHS legislation is to
“protect the public from the health and safety risks of business activities”.
And there is a legislative obligation on employers to
“not recklessly endanger a person at a workplace”.
There is a further obligation on employees, in relation to workplace safety and the safety of the public to
“take reasonable care for self and others”.
I put the question to readers – could the sexual misconduct of priests be a potential breach of OHS law?