Australian Churches Back Removal of Child Abuse Limitation Statutes

In Australia, the Catholic and Uniting churches are both publicly giving at least qualified support to a proposal by Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall for nation-wide removal of statutes of limitation on suits by child sex abuse victims against various institutions. According to today's Australian, Aspinall is leading a campaign urging Queensland's government to set a precedent for the country. Currently churches generally require churches to assert statute of limitations defenses in these suits. Those statutes in Australia generally require claims by those abused as minors to be filed by the time they turn 21.