In 2006, Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia adopted the Discipline Ordinance 2006 (‘the 2006 Ordinance’) as a replacement for the Church Discipline Ordinance 2002 (‘the 2002 Ordinance’). Both versions set up the Professional Standards Committee (the PSC) which exercised certain functions in the process of dealing with complaints to the Professional Standards Unit (the PSU).
But there was one significant change: under the 2002 Ordinance the PSC was consulted by the Director PSU before a complaint was referred to an investigator, but under the 2006 Ordinance the PSC was only consulted after the investigation had been completed. It acquired a quasi-judicial function to make ‘findings’ and to make recommendations to the Archbishop, if they were accepted by the respondent, as to what, if any, further action should be taken.
As this article will show, the exercise of either of these functions was fraught with difficulties relating to the violation of issues of truth, evidence and the principles of natural justice, all three violations giving rise to appalling injustice that was perpetrated by the particular PSC members in several cases I have examined. In particular, the operation of the PSC in the case of Figtree Anglican Church and the Dobbs family was disgraceful.
Trial by Committee (PSC)