What Is An Institution In Cases of Institutional Abuse?
An institution is an organisation that was founded for a religious, educational, professional, or social purpose.
Religious organisation
This can be any of the established religious institutions (the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church, the Uniting Church and so on) or a religious order (the Marist Brothers, The Salvation Army, the Patrician Bros, the Jesuits and so on).
Educational organisation
This can be the public education system (whether it is primary or high school), which are managed by State governments.
The private/independent education system include the Catholic/Christian schools, schools run by the Jewish faith, Islamic schools and other the non-denomination schools.
Also included as an educational organisation are the military academies:
- Royal Military College Duntroon, ACT
- HMAS Cerberus, Victoria (the Naval academy).
- The Australian Defence Force Academy, ACT
Professional institutional
A professional institution is an organisation or entity that serves a professional purpose. This encompasses the respective armed forces training facilities for training cadets.
Social purpose institutions
An institution created for a social purpose are organisations created to fulfil a need in society, such as adoption agencies, aged care facilities, homeless shelters or charitable organisations.
These institutions include religious charities, such as the St Vincents de Paul Society, Mission Australia, The Salvation Army and Anglicare.
Contact Us
If you would like to talk to one of our abuse specialists, for free and in confidence, about your legal options, please feel free to either complete the form below, or you can call us on 02 9283 5599.
4 replies to What Is An Institution In Cases of Institutional Abuse?
This is about my daughter she’s 22 now told me at 20
When she was 11 her dad asked to have oral sex with her and offered her money when she said no he paid her to not tell me
Apparently he groomed her beforehand ever since she was a bsby
Hi Connie,
We would recommend that your first step would be to report this to the police. If you have already done this, please either call our office on 02 9283 5599 or fill out one of our contact forms and one of our child abuse specialists will call you back to help you assess your daughter’s legal options.
I used to attend the Adelaide aquatic centre very frequently and after my father was sentenced to a lengthy prison term my step dad became very controlling I must have been 10-11yrs old when I was sexualy abused. The guilt I carried led to mental health issues growing up because I didn’t feel I could speak about it without getting in trouble and the shame my dad would have gone through knowing this wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t in prison
Hi David,
It’s not uncommon for survivors of child abuse to take decades to start to understand the trauma they experienced, and more years after that to begin taking steps to address the impact it has had on their lives. The fact that you’re commenting on a blog post is a good sign.
If you would like to talk to one of our abuse specialists, for free and in confidence, about your legal options, please feel free to contact us here on the Koffels wbsite with the best way and the best time to contact you. You can let us know if you’d be more comfortable talking to a male or female associate, or you can call us on 02 9283 5599.