Chrissie Foster

Christine "Chrissie" Foster AM (born c. 1955) is an Australian advocate for people impacted by child sexual abuse.

Not to be confused with Christine Forster.
Chrissie Foster

AM
Bornc. 1955; (65–66 years old)[1]
NationalityAustralian
OccupationPublic servant
Known forAdvocate for people impacted by child sexual abuse
Spouse(s)Anthony (m. 1980; dec'd 2017)
Children3; including 1 dec'd 2008

Foster and her late husband, Anthony, raised three daughters in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria. The children were educated in Catholic schools. Father Kevin O'Donnell, a local Catholic priest, aged in his 70s, was well-known by Catholic church hierarchy as a long-term paedophile,[2] who the Church had moved from parish to parish in order to avoid his career of sexual assault on children becoming public.[3][4] O'Donnell, who lived next door to the Oakleigh Sacred Heart Primary School, sexually abused two of the Fosters' daughters in the 1990s, when they were aged between five and seven years old.[3][5] The Foster family's case was one of those which prompted establishment of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations and the subsequent Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.[6][7][8]

In 2017 Foster was a Local Hero Nominee in Victoria for the Australian of the Year.[6] In 2019, Foster was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to children, particularly as an advocate for those who have suffered sexual abuse.[9] Foster's advocacy included fighting for survivors to be allowed in the evidence room to hear the cross examination of Cardinal George Pell in Rome.[10]

Foster is a critic of the Catholic Church's Melbourne Response restorative compensation package for victims of clerical sexual abuse.[3]

Selected works
  • Foster, Chrissie; Kennedy, Paul (2011). Hell on the way to Heaven: An Australian mother's love. The power of the Catholic Church. A fight for justice over child sexual abuse. Sydney: Bantam. ISBN 978-1-74275-304-1.
  • Morris-Marr, Lucie; Foster, Chrissie (2019). Fallen: the inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-76087-605-0.

See also

References
  1. Grossetti, Carla (30 October 2010). "Two of us: Chrissie and Anthony Foster". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. "Paedophile Offenders: Father Kevin O'Donnell". Kelso Lawyers. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. "Chrissie Foster calls for George Pell's Melbourne Response to be 'torn down'". ABC News. Australia. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  4. McKenzie-Murray, Martin (27 October 2018). "The national apology and what comes next". The Saturday Paper (No. 228 ed.). Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. Courtin, Judy (16 June 2017). "Obituary: Anthony Foster was a tireless fighter for truth and justice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. "Chrissie Foster: 2017 VIC Local Hero Nominee". Australian of the Year. National Australia Day Committee. 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  7. Courtin, Judy (14 April 2012). "The truth deserves a commission". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  8. Short, Michael (25 June 2012). "Hell on Earth". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  9. "Member of the Order of Australia (AM) entry for Ms Chrissie FOSTER". It's an Honour, Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  10. Brown, Rachael (26 February 2016). "George Pell: Church abuse victims travel to Rome to witness Cardinal's royal commission appearance". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
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