Father Patrick (“Pat”) Cusack

Father Patrick Aubrey Cusack was a former parish priest who served most of his religious career withing the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra- Goulburn. Royal Commission records indicate that Father Cusack was a native of southern NSW and Canberra. He was born in 1928 and died in 1977 at the age of 49. He was ordained as a priest in 1954 and served at the following locations within the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn:

• Canberra, ACT (assistant priest - 1955 to 1959);

• St Peter and St Paul Parish - Goulburn, NSW (assistant priest - 1960 to 1967);

• St Joseph’s Parish - O’Connor, ACT (assistant priest - late 1960s);

• St Matthew and St Vincent’s Parish - Aranda/South Belconnen, ACT (assistant priest - late 1960s); and

• St Matthew’s Catholic Church - Page, ACT (parish priest - 1970 to 1979).

Royal Commission records show that Father Cusack had been sexually abusing children during his service within the Archdiocese but it was not until 1993 that the first allegations were made against him. The victim in 1993 accused Father Cusack of abusing her in 1975 and 1976 when she was in Year 5 and 6 at St Matthew’s Primary School which was associated with St Matthew’s Catholic Church where Father Cusack was parish priest. Since then, 22 other victims have made allegations of sexual abuse against Father Cusack in which the Archdiocese has accepted that each claimant had been abused by Father Cusack

We invite former victims of Father Patrick (“Pat”) Cusack to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.