Parliament also heard that, having learnt Burgess was set to be promoted to the national director of the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches in 2023, Bear wrote a complaint to the church oversight body. The fellowship declined to investigate.
Bear then hired a lawyer, who contacted the Office of the Children’s Guardian, the NSW government body which oversees child protection complaints.
However, the pair were advised that the complaint was outside the office’s remit. The guardian’s investigator, Stephanie Menear, allegedly had links to the church.
“[The office] had a potential undeclared conflict of interest with the senior investigator at the Office of the Children’s Guardian allegedly being a former child protection officer for the Sydney Anglican diocese, a diocese with close connection to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches,” Higginson said.
“It is an offence for an adult to conceal child abuse offences and not to report such offences to the NSW Police Force.”
She called for the guardian to revoke the Working with Children Checks of Burgess and Doust, and to launch a full investigation into the allegations, the church and its national oversight body.
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches national director Bruce Bennett denied the organisation had not adequately investigated Burgess nor the claims against Briggs.
“[The fellowship] sought an independent investigation to ensure the situation was handled with integrity and care [which] found that the church and its leaders met all legal and reporting requirements,” he said.
Bennett added the church had made a “deliberate effort” to follow the royal commission’s guidance about avoiding practices that might unintentionally retraumatise victims, and that the church consulted several independent professionals and followed their guidance.
“[The organisation] cares deeply about the safety and well-being of children and all vulnerable people in our churches. We grieve the harm that abuse causes,” he said.
