Victims seek help from NSW attorney general over ‘paltry’ Catholic church abuse payouts

Victims’ lawyers say the Catholic church has taken a more aggressive stance on compensation after a case in which a court found it could not have a fair trial because the alleged abuser had died. Photograph: Rob Carr/Getty Images

The New South Wales attorney general, Mark Speakman, says he is monitoring a case being used by the church to pressure survivors into accepting “paltry” compensation offers after his office received complaints from victims and lawyers about their conduct.

Guardian Australia revealed this week that the Catholic church has been pressuring survivors to accept relatively small amounts in cases where paedophile clergy have died or risk having their cases fail in court.