Author John Ayliffe is coming to Ballarat on Saturday 24 October to share his extraordinary story at a free author talk at Ballarat Library, presented in collaboration with LOUD Fence Ballarat.
John's book, Betrayal, tells the inside story of an approach made to him in 1989, when he was a high-profile advertising executive.
A senior Catholic Church figure wanted his help managing and concealing allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy.
John refused to participate and urged the Church to go to the police.
But faced with what he describes as a "he said, he said" situation, and uncertain what to do next, he kept the approach confidential.
It was a decision that would haunt him for the next 25 years, until the 2014 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse exposed the scale and systemic nature of abuse within Australian institutions.
Betrayal examines the culture of denial, the failures of leadership and the devastating human cost borne by survivors and their families.
The author talk is free for Ballarat locals to attend, with a portion of book sales supporting LOUD Fence Ballarat.
