Christian Brothers schooled over asset stripping
The legal obstacles to shielding rich Catholic schools from abuse payouts are multiplying.
The head of the Christian Brothers, Gerard Brady, tuned into court proceedings on Thursday morning to see yet another hole blown in a scheme to stop victims of sex abuse at the hands of the order receiving their full entitlements.
Supreme Court of New South Wales Justice Scott Nixon gave the Christian Brothers a moratorium on payment of claims but, following negotiations between the order's lawyers, Gilbert + Tobin, and lawyers for hundreds of abuse victims that stretched late into Wednesday night, that moratorium is riddled with exemptions.
Chief among those is leaving open the possibility that victims, who the order estimates are owed at least $774 million, can claim against a pool of assets that includes some of Australia's top private schools.
That does not represent an existential threat to those schools. It is more likely the difference between a new wellness centre at Melbourne's St Kevin's or a new building at Ben Fordham's and Greg Sheridan's alma mater, St Pius X on Sydney's North Shore, and the diversion of operating surpluses (or the leveraging of landholdings) to pay victims.
