Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn denies liability for Father Patrick Cusack's alleged abuse

An ACT Supreme Court civil decision published on Monday revealed a man was seeking exemplary or aggravated damages from the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

The man alleged that Father Patrick Cusack sexually abused him from 1973 to 1975.

He was between four and seven years old at the time and a student of St Matthew's Primary School in Page, where Father Cusack conducted mass as a parish priest.

The former ACT student has made several claims, including that the diocese gave the priest "unfettered access" to students at the school in at least the mid-1970s.

He alleged the church breached its duty of care by failing to prevent abuse despite allegedly knowing there was a "foreseeable and not insignificant risk of sexual abuse of children by priests".

He also claimed the church, as a supervisory party, was vicariously liable for Father Cusack's conduct after placing him in a powerful position that allowed trust and intimacy with children.

The diocese has denied these allegations and that it "knew or ought to have known of a risk of sexual abuse by Father Cusack".

The church also did not admit the alleged abuse, which the man claimed took place in his home, in clergy housing and in a school chapel annex, occurred.

The claim was not the first made against Father Cusack, who died aged 54 in 1977.

In a 2016 witness statement made to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the current Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn acknowledged the priest's historical offences.

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Archbishop Christopher Prowse said a woman came forward in 1993 claiming Father Cusack abused her in 1975 and 1976 when she was a primary school student.

"Her claim was accepted, the matter became public, and since then a further 20 people have come forward," he told the Royal Commission.

"The Archdiocese accepts that each claimant was abused."

Archbishop Prowse said the woman received a $20,000 settlement in 1994, inclusive of legal costs.

Associate Justice Verity McWilliam ordered the church to make available any complaint or report of sexual abuse committed or alleged to have been committed by Father Cusack up to his death in August 1977.

The judge was satisfied the category of documents requested by the man related both directly and indirectly to a personal injury negligence claim.

"Similar conduct that was alleged to have occurred in close proximity in time may well be relevant on a tendency basis, particularly if the complaint is one that [the church] accepted as having occurred as was evidence in the Royal Commission," she said.

Among other reasons, the man argued the evidence could help him prove the alleged abuse and the duty of care breached by the diocese.

Father Cusack also worked as a priest and assistant priest in Goulburn, O'Connor, Boorowa and Aranda throughout a more than two decade career.

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