Key facts
- The federal government is concerned the Christian Brothers may have inappropriately transferred assets.
- The Christian Brothers owes an estimated $774 million to abuse survivors.
- The order has 36 properties valued at $216 million under its control.
- Property transfers to Edmund Rice Education Australia were reportedly made for $1 each.
- A moratorium has been placed on abuse claims against the Christian Brothers by the NSW Supreme Court.
The Australian federal government has voiced concerns in the NSW Supreme Court regarding the potential for the Christian Brothers Catholic order to have inappropriately transferred assets, which could jeopardize compensation for abuse survivors. The order is seeking a moratorium on civil claims, stating it is facing financial ruin and proposing a scheme to sell its remaining properties to satisfy creditors, including survivors to whom it estimates it owes $774 million. The government's legal representation highlighted "disturbing" historical asset transfers to Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), established to manage former Christian Brothers schools, noting that property records show these transfers were made for nominal amounts, even for multimillion-dollar assets. The court heard that the proposed scheme aims to preserve creditors' rights to pursue these transferred assets, but the government pointed to discrepancies and unanswered questions in the evidence provided by the Christian Brothers. Justice Scott Nixon has ordered a moratorium on claims to allow survivors time to consider the proposed sell-off scheme, warning that without it, the opportunity to consider the proposal would be lost. A spokesperson for the Christian Brothers previously stated that the property transfers were part of a slow, progressive handover to EREA, complicated by jurisdictional issues.