Abuse victims such as John Ellis, who suffered at the hands of Catholic clergy, should be allowed to revisit their compensation claims against the church, the Archbishop of Sydney says.
Anthony Fisher says the church has admitted to its failings in the case of Mr Ellis who was abused while an altar boy but lost his compensation court case because the church successfully argued it was not a legal entity.
Archbishop Fisher said the church was taking a "generous" approach to victims who come back seeking a better compensation deal than they were given in decades gone by.
"I think that what we see as the standards of justice now should be applied," he told ABC radio on Friday.
"And that is that everyone should have a body that they can sue, or should have had a body that they can sue. And so if there was no one they could go to before, of course they should have a body to go to now."
Archbishop Fisher said the church was currently dealing with a number of such cases.
"I do know of a number of cases that have been reopened, where people have come back to the church and said that by today's standards what happened 20 years ago, or 30 years ago when I approached the church, wasn't good enough and what more are you willing to do for me," he said.
"And that has again been treated ... pastorally and generously."
He said the church had dramatically changed the way it dealt with abuse cases since the Ellis matter, and that included ruling out using the Ellis defence in the future.
"I have said with respect to all Sydney cases, and the bishops and religious leaders have said with respect to all cases in Australia, that anyone suing should be told who is the appropriate person to sue, and ensure they are indemnified or insured so that people will get their damages or settlements," he said.
"There really is no case in Australia at the moment where people are facing not knowing who to sue, or not having an appropriate body to sue with respect to the Catholic Church."
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