On Friday, 24th February 2017, Justice Peter McClellan asked five leading Catholic bishops if they would grant absolution to someone who confessed to abusing a child, and whether they would be prepared to break the seal of confession and tell authorities.

Response was mixed... and very frightening, with the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, revealing he would not break the Seal of the Confessional and inform authorities if a child during confession told him they had been abused, but instead would try and persuade the child to tell someone.

Mandatory Reporting must be brought in immediately, in every State and Territory in Australia, to include all persons working or volunteering in a religious organisation.