Christian Brothers abuse victims to get ‘full’ compensation in backdown after controversial property sales

The move came after the Christian Brothers order told a court it is broke and cannot afford to pay out survivor redress claims. Photograph: Kzenon/Alamy View image in fullscreen The move came after the Christian Brothers order told a court it is broke and cannot afford to pay out survivor redress claims. Photograph: Kzenon/Alamy Christian Brothers abuse victims to get ‘full’ compensation in backdown after controversial property sales Edmund Rice Education Australia can be sued over abuse committed by Catholic order, after receiving much of its property holdings Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The entity gifted vast property holdings by the Christian Brothers has agreed to help compensate abuse survivors in full, in a stunning reversal after weeks of public pressure. The Christian Brothers, a Catholic order with a long history of clergy abuse, last month announced it was going broke and could not afford to meet civil claims from abuse survivors. It instead proposed a scheme to sell off 36 properties, worth about $217m, and splitting the proceeds between a range of creditors, including survivors, who were estimated to be owed $774m. The announcement prompted significant backlash and led to scrutiny of property dealings between the Christian Brothers and a related entity, the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA). That entity was created in 2007 to assume control of former Christian Brothers schools. Over a decade, the Christian Brothers gifted vastly lucrative property holdings – worth hundreds of millions of dollars – to EREA for amounts of $1. Survivors were told those properties were off-limits and would not be sold to meet their compensation claims. EREA had previously refused to replace the Christian Brothers as the defendant to court claims. Survivors had been in the process of attempting to get a court order to force EREA to do so. But on Friday, both entities issued statements indicating that Edmund Rice had agreed to help “compensate victims and survivors of historical abuse claims against the Christian Brothers in full”. Dr Stephen Brown, chair of the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia, said his organisation was “committed to supporting those who have suffered abuse”. “We support the revised scheme because it is simply the right thing to do for victims and survivors to provide them a just and sustainable pathway,” he said. “This decision will also support the long-term sustainability of the educational ministry, including more than 44,000 students entrusted to EREA’s stewardship.” The new proposal means that the Christian Brothers remaining 36 properties will be sold off to pay survivors who have “outstanding settlements or judgements, including claims to legal costs”. Others who have claims that “are not yet crystallised” will be able to sue EREA, or claim redress from them through the government-run national redress scheme. The orga