Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Original publication
2016
Linked edition
Not recorded
Format
Court record
Provenance
court_filing
Rights of source work
Open license
Identifiers
isbn:978-1-925289-89-3
Source content hash
Not recorded
Read on the Royal Commission's own website on 2026-11-04: findings report dated October 2016, ISBN 978-1-925289-89-3.
Published under a Creative Commons licence. The elders' handbook and related letters were in evidence; the report quotes and summarises them. Exhibits for the case are listed at https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits-case-study-29.
Claims about this item
These claims may cite other sources for the same restricted item. Supporting and contradicting evidence remain separate.
CLM-0035 · Content
Every elder receives a copy of Shepherd the Flock of God on appointment, and the Governing Body gives final approval to its contents.
Checked against the report on the Royal Commission's website on 2026-11-04. The Commission quotes the handbook; the handbook itself has not been read.
SRC-0043: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.
ITEM-0010: The recorded practice status is provisional: no dated status claims are linked.
CLM-0036 · Content
The handbook places child sexual abuse under the scriptural offences of porneia, brazen or loose conduct, and gross uncleanness, and defines what each includes; its 1991 predecessor, Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock, also had a lesser offence of uncleanness covering momentary touching.
Checked against the report on the Royal Commission's website on 2026-11-04. The Commission quotes the handbook; the handbook itself has not been read.
SRC-0043: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.
ITEM-0010: The recorded practice status is provisional: no dated status claims are linked.
CLM-0037 · Content
Elders may take disciplinary action only on a confession, the testimony of two or three credible eyewitnesses to the same incident, or strong circumstantial evidence testified to by at least two witnesses (the two-witness rule). Without that, an accused person who denies the allegation continues to be viewed as innocent and the matter is left in Jehovah's hands.
Checked against the report on the Royal Commission's website on 2026-11-04. The Commission quotes the handbook; the handbook itself has not been read.
SRC-0043: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.
ITEM-0010: The recorded practice status is provisional: no dated status claims are linked.
CLM-0038 · Content
The current handbook appears to require a complainant to make the allegation in the presence of the accused, and documents in evidence require witnesses to put their allegations to a judicial committee in the accused's presence unless that is impractical; the organisation's witnesses testified that survivors of child sexual abuse are no longer required to confront their abuser.
Checked against the report on the Royal Commission's website on 2026-11-04. The Commission quotes the handbook; the handbook itself has not been read.
SRC-0043: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.
ITEM-0010: The recorded practice status is provisional: no dated status claims are linked.
Evidence qualifications
SRC-0043 · source_without_content_hash: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.
DISC-0044 · record_unreviewed: Record review status is unreviewed; review is not proof of truth.
ITEM-0010 · status_without_dated_evidence: The recorded practice status is provisional: no dated status claims are linked.
Reviewed means checked against a source. It does not establish source authenticity, independent corroboration or present-day practice.
