IN AN unprecedented move, the northern NSW diocese of Grafton has placed advertisements in multiple east-coast Australian newspapers, apologising to children abused at a children's home in Lismore. The apology relates to claims of abuse from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The advertisements apologise "unreservedly" to children who suffered "sexual abuse, harsh punishment, or a lack of appropriate and nurturing care" at the North Coast Children's Home. The diocese also asks for forgiveness for the "unacceptable manner in which those who in recent years reported their abuse were hindered by church leaders".

Earlier this year, the Bishop of Grafton, the Rt Revd Keith Slater, who was due to retire later this year, resigned after an audit revealed that he had not referred some sexual-abuse allegations to the diocese's Professional Standards Director (News, 24 May).