A $10 Million Wedding Venue and a 122-Year-Old Country Church: An Australian Diocese Sells Up to Pay Abuse Survivors

• The Anglican Diocese of Grafton sold the Secret Garden wedding venue in Byron Bay for more than $10 million
• Dozens of other properties, including country churches, were being sold across regional areas
• The money funds compensation under Australia’s national redress scheme
• A lay leader called the sales “a desperation measure”

The Anglican Diocese of Grafton sold the Secret Garden wedding venue on Byron Bay’s main street for more than $10 million, one of dozens of property sales across regional Australia to fund compensation for survivors of historical abuse, ABC News reported on December 9, 2021.

The sales reached deep into country parishes. The 122-year-old weatherboard church at Tregeagle, near Lismore, was closing after its last service, and St Oswald’s Church at Broken Bay, a First World War memorial site, was also affected. “It’s very sad for us to see it sold. We’ve had six generations all christened here in the church,” said Allen Davis, a 92-year-old Tregeagle parishioner.

Other dioceses faced the same pressure. The ABC reported that the North Queensland Diocese estimated about $6 million in redress debt. Bishop Keith Joseph said it planned to sell about 25 properties over eight years. “Most regional diocese have a thin asset base and do not have the money available, so selling property is the only thing left,” he said.

Lay Anglican leader Dr Muriel Porter said: “It’s not a cash grab, it’s a desperation measure.”

For churches in Jamaica, the Australian sales show how liabilities that arise years later can force the sale of property that congregations assumed would be theirs for ever. A diocese with land but little cash has few options when a large bill arrives. Insurance, reserves and a clear view of which properties are essential and which could be sold are part of responsible stewardship, as is making sure that when sales happen, congregations are told early and honestly why.

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