Vicarious liability for clergy abuse in Australia: Bird

In Bird v DP (a pseudonym) [2023] VSCA 66 (3 April), the respondent had claimed damages for psychological injuries which, he alleged, he had sustained as a result of assaults committed by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Bryan Coffey at the home of his parents in Port Fairy, Victoria, in 1971. He sued the Diocese of Ballarat through the current Bishop, Paul Bird, who was the nominated defendant for the purpose of the proceeding pursuant to s 7 of the Legal Identity of Defendants (Organisational Child Abuse) Act 2018, an Act of the Parliament of Victoria [1]. Continue reading