The Christian Brothers Catholic order has transferred 26 multimillion-dollar properties to an affiliated entity for as little as $1 each over the past decade, while simultaneously telling a court it is too broke to compensate hundreds of child sexual abuse survivors, a Guardian Australia investigation has revealed.
Property records show that between 2013 and 2024, the Christian Brothers sold or transferred 26 properties to Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) for nominal sums of $1 or $0. The properties, located in New South Wales, include multimillion-dollar homes near schools in Waverley and Strathfield, school buildings, and vacant land, with a current estimated value exceeding $50 million.
The most recent transfer, in November 2024, involved a five-bedroom Strathfield home with a backyard pool, valued at $4.7 million, which EREA acquired for $1. Many of the transfers were signed off by the then Christian Brothers Oceania leader, Peter Clinch, who died in 2024.
Legal Moratorium Sought on Abuse Claims
This week, the Christian Brothers applied to the NSW Supreme Court for a moratorium on all remaining civil cases lodged by survivors, which would permanently halt at least 200 claims. The order proposes selling its remaining 36 properties, worth about $216 million, and distributing the proceeds among creditors, including survivors, under a scheme overseen by retired judges. The order has acknowledged the sale will not cover all debts.
Survivors and their lawyers say they were blindsided by the legal tactic. Judy Courtin, a lawyer representing abuse survivor Adam (a pseudonym), said she first learned of the plan on Monday and received hundreds of pages of documents just hours before a Wednesday hearing. The court granted an extension, and the matter will be considered next week.
“This reflects their whole MO, using the black letter of the law to destroy and crush victim-survivors,” Courtin said.
EREA Maintains Financial Separation
EREA, established in 2007 as an administratively and financially separate entity to assume control of Christian Brothers schools, reported net assets of $2.3 billion and $345 million in cash as of December 2024. An EREA spokesperson said the organisation is “not responsible for the financial affairs or liabilities of the Christian Brothers” and that diverting school assets to support the order’s liabilities would raise “significant governance, fiduciary and regulatory issues.”
The spokesperson described the property transfers as part of a slow, progressive process of turning over school land and property to EREA, delayed by the complexity of transferring titles across jurisdictions. The transfers, they said, “represent the completion of a governance transition that commenced almost a decade earlier.”
Survivors and Lawyers React
Adam, who was abused by Br Robert Best and allegedly by Br Gerald Fitzgerald at St Alipius Boys’ School in Ballarat in the 1960s, described the order’s actions as “not human.” He has been fighting for justice for five years, including in the High Court, and suffered a serious heart attack 18 months ago. “It’s so hard to just keep my head above water,” he said.
Jason Parkinson, principal at Porters Lawyers, said the moratorium push is unprecedented in Australia. “In the early days, the church would say: we don’t exist, we can’t be sued … quite frankly, this just seems to be a variation on that theme.”
The Australian Lawyers Alliance said it was “appalled” at the strategy. National president Ian Murray said, “These are not abstract legal disputes. They concern children who were harmed by individuals in positions of trust, and in circumstances where the church failed in their duty of care.”
Christian Brothers’ Response
A spokesperson for the Christian Brothers Oceania said the proposed scheme would allow scrutiny of the property transfers to EREA. “Under a scheme of arrangement or liquidation, there will be scrutiny of the property transfers to EREA, and the parties involved in those transactions.”
The spokesperson also confirmed that as of 26 June 2026, no funding from Catholic bodies, including EREA, had been forthcoming in response to requests for financial assistance. The order said the moratorium and sell-off scheme would only proceed with creditor support; if creditors reject it, the province entities will enter liquidation.
The Christian Brothers have faced the highest number of child abuse claims of any Catholic order in Australia, with 1,015 claims made between 1980 and 2015, identifying 483 alleged perpetrators across 100 schools. A royal commission found that 22% of its brothers were alleged perpetrators, the second highest rate among Catholic orders.
