The New South Wales supreme court has ordered a moratorium on all abuse claims against the Christian Brothers, a Catholic order central to the church's child sexual abuse scandal, as lawyers for the federal government expressed concern that the order may have inappropriately transferred property worth millions for just $1 each.
Moratorium Granted to Allow Survivors to Consider Proposal
Justice Scott Nixon on Thursday granted the moratorium, halting claims against the Christian Brothers, which says it is going broke and wants to establish a separate scheme to sell off its remaining property and divide the proceeds among creditors, including abuse survivors. The order estimates it owes $774 million to survivors with current or future abuse claims but says it has only 36 remaining properties worth $216 million under its control. The moratorium will give survivors time to consider whether to support the Christian Brothers' proposal.
Without the moratorium, Nixon said, the opportunity to consider the scheme would be lost. The Christian Brothers has previously warned that if its proposed scheme is not supported, the order will go into liquidation and survivors will likely receive even less.
Concerns Over Historical $1 Property Transfers
Significant concerns have emerged about how the Christian Brothers transferred property—land, school buildings, and homes around former schools—to another entity, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), over the past decade. Property records obtained by the Guardian show those transfers were made for $1 each, even in cases involving multimillion-dollar homes in Sydney. EREA, named after the founder of the Christian Brothers, was established as an independent entity in 2007 to assume control of former Christian Brothers schools.
The Australian Financial Review first reported that the land transfers were worth $891 million in late 2024 and may now be valued at $2 billion.
Federal Government Raises 'Disturbing' Possibility
In a hearing before the NSW supreme court, Sera Mirzabegian SC, representing the commonwealth, said the federal government was “concerned to ensure that institutions take responsibility for abuse [and] that they provide appropriate compensation.” Mirzabegian said the commonwealth had particular concerns about “historical asset transfers between the Christian Brothers and EREA” and whether they were “proper and appropriate.” She said it would be “obviously disturbing” if the transfers resulted in assets not being available to compensate survivors.
The court heard that the Christian Brothers' proposed scheme would preserve the rights of creditors, including survivors, to pursue assets transferred to EREA. The Christian Brothers has provided 15 pages of evidence about the nature of those property transfers, but Mirzabegian said the evidence contained significant “discrepancies,” including about the value of the land transferred. “What is abundantly clear from that evidence is that it unfortunately raises more questions than it answers,” Mirzabegian said.
EREA's Response and Next Steps
An EREA spokesperson previously told the Guardian the property was transferred as part of a slow, progressive process of turning over Christian Brothers school land and property to EREA, delayed by what the spokesperson described as the “complexity of transferring individual titles across multiple jurisdictions.” The moratorium now allows survivors to consider the property sell-off scheme and decide whether to support it.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International.
