Elizabeth was born in post-war Europe and migrated to Australia when she was very young. The family lived in Nelson Bay and she grew up in a large conservative Catholic family. As a very bright young girl, Elizabeth went to a Catholic boarding school, studied hard and went to University on a scholarship. At 17, studying social work in Sydney, Elizabeth encountered a wider world for which she felt under prepared and confusing. Back in Newcastle, she reached out to Fr Terry Silvester, chaplain to YCW for advice, where she was sexually assaulted. Later in Sydney, she was sexually assaulted by another priest whom she again reached out to for help. From these events, Elizabeth suffered significant trauma and confusion, which she has been dealing with and recovering from for many years. Elizabeth enjoyed a successful professional career as a social worker but her personal life was one of great difficulty and pain. It was 30 years before she felt safe enough to disclose her story. Her courage to face the truth of what happened to her in her adolescence comes through clearly in this remarkable interview.

Content warning and Ethics

The content in the following interviews contains distressing accounts of childhood sexual abuse. If you experience distress, please reach out for help:

1800 RESPECT: 24 hour phone support 1800 737732

LIFELINE: 24 hour phone support 13 11 14

BLUEKNOT Help Line: 9am-5pm phone support  1300 657 380

KIDS HELPLINE: 24 hour phone support 1800 551 800

RAPE CRISIS CENTRE 24 hour phone support 1800 424 017

The Survivor Story Project is funded by the Marist Brothers Australia in conjunction with its aim to engage in restorative justice processes for survivors of child sexual abuse in Marist schools in Australia. The Survivor Story Project has ethics approval from the University of Newcastle Australia, ethics approval reference number: H-2019-0195

The names of the participating survivors are their own except for CQT who opted to use a pseudonym.