Category Archives: Anglican Church

A Cautionary Tale – the Cover-up Begins (revised 2018)

In the article ‘A Cautionary Tale’, I wrote about how a 20-year-old young woman Emma Nicholls, a sufferer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and with other mental and physical issues, had been abused by her mother Lee Nicholls, by parishioners, staff and ordained and lay leadership of Figtree Anglican Church and by the then Senior Minister’s

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The First Stone Revisited (2018 2nd edition)

In 1995 noted Australian feminist and author Helen Garner published her book ‘The First Stone’. In this she examined the case of two charges of indecent assault that were brought by the Victorian Police against the then Master of Ormond College, Melbourne University. She tried to understand why the complaints were brought and why events

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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PSC Figtree Anglican Church v the Dobbs family.

On 12 April 2008 I wrote to Archdeacon Deryck Howell, who was Chair of the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) of the Anglican Church, Sydney diocese. This was after Phillip Gerber, Director Sydney PSU, had referred the case of the complaint by Lee Nicholls on behalf of her adult daughter Emma Nicholls to the PSC in

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Leadership, Ministry and a Coffee Machine (revised 2018)

What are the limits on the power and authority of the clergy and lay leadership of a Parish and officers and senior clergy of Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia to prosecute pseudo-criminal proceedings against an ordinary parishioner? In its’ prosecution of the Dobbs family, the leadership of Figtree Anglican church (in Wollongong

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Trial by Committee: the Professional Standards Committee of the Anglican Church Sydney diocese

In 2006, Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia adopted the Discipline Ordinance 2006 (‘the 2006 Ordinance’) as a replacement for the Church Discipline Ordinance 2002 (‘the 2002 Ordinance’). Both versions set up the Professional Standards Committee (the PSC) which exercised certain functions in the process of dealing with complaints to the Professional Standards

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A Thumbnail introduction to the “Figtree Affair”: Figtree Anglican church v the Dobbs family

I have written a great deal about this case: A Cautionary Tale, A Mother’s Story, The Evolution of a Lie, Whispers and Lies and The First Stone Revisited are the major ones. Each looks at the case from a different angle. This article is to give the new readers (or just the bemused readers) a

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Whispers and Lies: An Inappropriate response Part 1

Part 1: The clergy and lay leadership of Figtree Anglican Church, among others, have been telling their parishioners, senior clergy of the diocese and now, ten years later, the current Anglican Archbishop Dr. Glenn Davies, that they dealt in an appropriate manner with a complaint by a Mrs. Lee Nicholls, who was not a parishioner,

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The Evolution of a Lie Chapter 8

2016 chapter 8 Chapter 8: The UOW Lie – Scott’s story.

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The Evolution of a Lie Chapter 7

2016 chapter 7 The Evolution of a Lie Chapter 7 UOW’s problem with cheating, bribery and soft marking.

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The Evolution of a Lie Chapter 6

2016 chapter 6 (2) The Evolution of a Lie Chapter 6 Figtree Anglican Church and the PSU are responsible for abuse of the Dobbs family and Emma Nicholls

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