Among them are lawsuits in the Victorian Supreme Court seeking compensation for abuse by convicted paedophile priests, including Gerald Ridsdale and Paul David Ryan. At least one action has been filed against George Pell. Pell is seeking to appeal to the High Court against his criminal conviction over the abuse of a choirboy. Hundreds more survivors are preparing claims for compensation to be lodged against the Archdiocese of Melbourne, including cases of child rape at Corpus Christi seminary, as well as the dioceses of Sale, Sandhurst and Ballarat, the Christian Brothers and Marists. Loading Some of the claims include allegations that church figures ignored or covered up criminal conduct by priests and religious brothers. Others are planning to use new state laws that allow courts to overturn historical compensation payments by setting aside so-called "deeds of release". These were agreements that forced victims to sign away their rights to take further legal action when they accepted capped payouts through church compensation schemes such as the Melbourne Response.

Some of the claims could be heard in Supreme Court trials, but the vast majority are expected to be settled out of court. The deluge of legal action will have massive financial implications for the church, which is already struggling with operating losses, ballooning debt and declining parishioner numbers. In Melbourne, Archbishop Peter Comensoli has been forced to sack administrative staff and restructure the church’s head office in a bid to keep his budget on track. But there are also implications for victims, who now face significant delays processing their claims. Instead of having to go cap-in-hand to the church and negotiate an outcome, there is now a level playing field. Vivian Waller from Waller Legal Solicitor Judy Courtin said in some cases it could take six months or longer for victims to get appointments with specialist doctors and psychiatrists, which are needed to assess the extent of a person’s injuries and potential damages claim. Once a matter is filed, it could also take 12 to 15 months to get a trial date.

“The delays are very concerning, particularly for older survivors,” she said. The Melbourne Archdiocese declined to comment on its financial exposure to the legal actions. But The Age has previously revealed the church owns about $9 billion in property across Victoria, although many of these assets are in the form of heritage-listed churches, or properties being used as schools, nursing homes or outreach facilities. The Melbourne Archdiocese, which has pledged to meet its compensation obligations through borrowing or selling off its assets, recently listed for sale the multimillion-dollar Kew mansion formerly occupied by Archbishop Denis Hart. The former archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart. Credit:Joe Armao “We continue to meet the financial commitments that we have to survivors when claims are accepted or upheld,” spokesman Shane Healy said.

The Diocese of Sale said claims for compensation have put it under “financial pressure” similar to “many other” religious organisations around the country. “The Diocese regularly reviews its liabilities, both current and, as far as possible, forecast future claims, and then carefully budgets to meet its obligations,” Bishop Patrick O’Regan said. Figures from the Christian Brothers' Australian wing show it has already spent more than $213 million on victims’ payouts and legal expenses in the past six years, with the order expecting to outlay at least another $134 million in the future. The bishop of Sale, Pat O'Regan. Solicitor Vivian Waller, who represented the choirboy in the criminal case against Pell, said her firm, Waller Legal, is now pursuing 315 claims against Catholic organisations in Victoria. This included representing 81 former child victims of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. She said the legislative changes were directly responsible for the recent “wave of litigation”.

“Instead of having to go cap-in-hand to the church and negotiate an outcome, there is now a level playing field where the church has to address these cases on their merits.” Some survivors have told The Age they felt empowered to take action in the wake of the Pell verdict, and in particular, after the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Others say they simply want justice. "The reason I’m doing it is accountability," said one man who was sexually abused by a cleric as a minor, and whose matter is now before the courts. "They actually don’t care. Between the '60s and '90s and the current day, they actually forgot about parishioners. And they forgot about the kids. It was more about money, power, control and [their] standing in the community." The Bishop of Ballarat, Paul Bird. Credit:Leanne Pickett

The spike in legal action also suggests that some abuse survivors are shunning the federal government’s National Redress Scheme, which provides victims with a maximum of $150,000 but has been widely criticised for only doing so in “extreme” cases. Loading Federal government figures show that, as of August 30, the scheme had received more than 4800 applications, but had only made 512 redress payments with an average payment amount of $79,700. And 44 Catholic institutions are still yet to sign up, including the Society of St Vincent de Paul, St John of God and the Presentation Sisters. Loading “In most instances, it provides such inadequate compensation compared to what is achievable in a civil claim that most victims of institutional sexual abuse should not be going anywhere near it,” said Arnold Thomas & Becker partner Kim Price.