Sex Abuse Cost Australian Catholics Nearly $300 Million

Francis Sullivan, chief executive of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, explained, "From the 1950s to the current time, this report chronicles human damage and misery at the hands of the Catholic Church."

Sullivan noted that most of the alleged child sex abuse occurred prior to the early 1980s, noting the data shows a "massive drop-off" in the incidents of clerical sex abuse in parishes and schools after the 1970s.

Five religious orders — The Christian Brothers, the St. John of God Brothers, the Marist Brothers, the De La Salle Brothers and the Patrician Brothers — made up only five percent of all Catholic authorities but accounted for 41 percent of all payouts. Catholic-run schools were connected to 46 percent of all claims.

The data revealed that 2,854 claims of child sexual abuse resulted in monetary compensation. On average, each claimant received $91,000.

The Christian Brothers, a religious order that operated numerous children's homes in Australia, paid an average of $64,000 to 763 claimants, totalling $48 million. The highest average payout was $901,000 to the nine abuse survivors of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The study found that the highest incidents of child sexual abuse — 29 percent of all cases — occurred in the 1970s.