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  • Catholic Clergy Claims
    Catholic Clergy Claims
    Dr Vivian Waller has acted in claims against Catholic Clergy since 1995.
  • State Ward Claims
    State Ward Claims
    Dr Viv Waller has acted for former wards of the state of Victoria since 1997 when she commenced group litigation on behalf of many former residents of the Ballarat Orphanage who were abused in care.
  • The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    Established in January 2013, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigated how institutions like schools, churches and sporting groups responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.

Catholic Clergy Claims

Dr Vivian Waller has acted in claims against Catholic Clergy since 1995.

Catholic Clergy Claims

Overview

Waller Legal has acted in claims against Catholic defendants since our beginning in 2007 and has recovered compensation for survivors abused by Catholic Priests such as Frs Baker, Ridsdale, Kevin O'Donnell, D'Cruz, Gannon, Glennon, Gubbels, Frank Klep, Bernard Day, Pidoto and many others.

We specialise in claims where sexual abuse has been perpetrated by clergy members in Victoria.

We have helped our clients recover compensation for sexual abuse by Catholic priests, brothers, nuns and lay people working within a Catholic institution.

We have successfully recovered compensation for clients in claims against many Catholic entities, including the:

  • Christian Brothers
  • Diocese of Ballarat
  • Salesians of Don Bosco
  • Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
  • De La Salle Brothers
  • Passionist Brothers
  • Marist Brothers
  • Marist Fathers (or the Society of Mary)
  • Vincentians 
  • Redemptorists
  • Jesuits

 

The Christian Brothers

We have recovered compensation for hundreds of clients who were sexually abused at Christian Brother schools and orphanages in Victoria and throughout Australia.

Initially the majority of claims arose from schools in Ballarat, such as St Alipius Primary School and St Patrick’s College.  These cases related to sexual predators such as Christian Brothers Robert Charles Best, Ted Dowlan (now known as Ted Bales) and Leo Fitzgerald.  

In more recent times we have acted and continue to act for a large number of clients who came to Australia as child migrants from the United Kingdom, Malta and other countries and who were then sexually abused in Christian Brother run institutions in Western Australia, including Tardun, Bindoon, Clontarf and Castledare.

We have achieved compensation for former students of Parade College, St Leo’s Christian Brother College Box Hill, Therry College Broadmeadows (later known as Penola Catholic College) and other schools.  We have also successfully obtained compensation for clients abused by lay teachers in Christian Brother schools.

We have also run many successful claims for former state wards who were sexually abused at St Augustine’s Boys’ Home in Geelong and St Vincent Boys’ Home in South Melbourne.  We have achieved compensation for clients who were sexually abused in orphanages by various Christian Brothers including Brothers Eastmure, McGee, Hackett, Alford and Houston.

The Diocese of Ballarat

The Diocese of Ballarat includes fifty-one parishes that cover the western third of Victoria, extending from the Murray River in the North to the Southern Ocean in the South.

We act for survivors who were sexually abused by clergy of The Diocese of Ballarat including people harmed by notorious convicted child sex offender Father Gerald Ridsdale.

The Salesians of Don Bosco

We act for clients who were sexually abused at Rupertswood, Salesian College in Sunbury and St Joseph’s Regional College in Ferntree Gully.

Our clients’ claims relate to sexual abuse by Father Frank Klep, Father Julian Fox, former Father David Rapson, Father Michael Aulsebrook and others.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC)

We have recovered compensation for clients who were sexually abused at Monivae College in Hamilton by different members of the MSC including convicted child sex offender Brother Edward Mamo.

The De La Salle Brothers

We have recovered compensation for clients who were sexually abused at different De La Salle run schools including at St Joseph’s primary school and De La Salle College in Malvern, Victoria.

Allegations have related to Brother Anselm (Tom Hallam) and Brother Ibar (Frank Keating).

The Marist Brothers

We act for clients who were sexually abused by different members of the Marist Brothers including convicted sex offender Brother Gerard McNamara.

 

If you wish to investigate a potential civil claim against a Catholic organisation, please call us on 03 9415 9999 to have a confidential discussion about your options.
In pursuit of justice
In The News
Testimonials

  • Thank you so much for your efforts in this matter, and your patience with my frustrations as well.

    BQ

  • Dear Vivian,

    I wish to thank you for everything you have done to enable me to feel some justice has been achieved with the hope that the Catholic Church recognises it’s failings and addresses them.  In doing so, the Catholic Church can continue in the future, without public cynicism and to keep alive the central message of all religion, “to love thy neighbour as you would love yourself”.

    Essentially, this is asking us to step into another’s shoes before we judge them.  I feel that you did this for me during my conversations with me, and this made it easier for me to go through the whole process.  I also won’t forget the thoroughness and delightful manner of your staff.

    JA

  • It is with both great relief and admiration that I write this letter to you. A consummate professional and an amazingly beautiful human being you are. Thank you for doing such an exemplary job in resolving these issues for me, and supporting me with both compassion and instruction as my representative throughout this ordeal. I am painfully aware that no amount of retribution / compensation can replace what was taken, but I am hoping it can propel myself forward to achieve some sort of normality in my life. With respect and gratitude.

    JZ

  • Everything is different now.  My journey is over now.

    KF

  • As a mother, I write to express my gratitude to you and your team for the support of my daughter following her sexual assault three years ago.  Although the bloke who assaulted her was not charged the dollars being awarded to her following your intervention certainly acknowledges the wrong that was done – and will I hope, help her to move on.  Thank you for the work you do.  With much gratitude and appreciation.

    PS

  • Again we cannot thank you enough for all your dedication and hard work over the past few years, we would not have made it without your persistence and dogged determination to get this to settlement stage, many others would have settled for less. We now have a girl who has beaten the odds, and whose self esteem has rocketed, is confident, and especially is calm!

    We wish you all good things in life, as without lawyers like yourself who will take the risk of taking on the "untouchables" we would not have kept our girl on track or most importantly, alive. The road for her is still to be traveled, but this will assist in making the journey less troubled, and we hope with time and continued therapy she will see herself as a complete person and not as a shadow of who she could be.

    You will be forever in our thoughts.

    TJ

  • You are a wonderful warrior for truth and justice.

    Mary

  • Thank you for what you did, what you said and who you are, your thoughtfulness will always be remembered with more gratitude that you could ever know.

    Cheryl

  • Thank you so much for all of your hard work this year getting my VOCAT application together, and for the fantastic outcome. While I am still dealing with the emotional ramifications of what happened to me, I now feel like I have the means to continue rebuilding myself and my life. Thank you.

    CC

  • I would like to thank you for all you have done for me. The steps taken thus far have helped me greatly. Without your help I am not sure where I would be today, on behalf of myself and my family THANKYOU SO MUCH.

    Garry
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