AA v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle (No 2) [2024] NSWSC 1233

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: AA v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle (No 2) [2024] NSWSC 1233 Hearing dates: 1 October 2024 Date of orders: 1 October 2024 Decision date: 01 October 2024 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Schmidt AJ Decision: (1) Upon the grounds that the plaintiff and BB are victims of child sexual assault; the personal sensitivity of the complaints about which they have given evidence; the potential for disclosure or publication of their names to identify and cause them and as a result, their family members undue distress or embarrassment; and in order to protect their psychological safety, I am satisfied that it is necessary, in the public interest, within the meaning of section 8(1)(c) & (d) of the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010, to order pursuant to Section 7 of the Act that: (a) The name of these proceedings be changed to AA v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. (b) The name of the plaintiff be known by the pseudonym AA and the name of the witness by the pseudonym BB. (c) Their full names and any particulars which might enable AA and BB to be identified is not to be disclosed to any person other than the parties to the proceedings, their legal representatives or the Court, except as may be necessary for the proper conduct of these proceedings. (d) The plaintiff be referred to in all documents or records by the pseudonym AA and the witness by the pseudonym BB. (e) The publication of their names or any particulars which might enable them to be identified, is prohibited. (f) These orders are to apply throughout the Commonwealth of Australia for a period of 40 years. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — suppression and non-publication — orders — public interest in non-publication of plaintiff's name — where plaintiff was victim of child sexual abuse Legislation Cited: Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), s 8 Cases Cited: AA v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle [2024] NSWSC 1183 WJT v Trustees of the Marist Brothers & Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Parramatta [2024] NSWSC 983 Category: Consequential orders Parties: AA (Plaintiff) Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: S Prince SC and PA Tierney (Plaintiff) C Robertson (Defendant)