A six month Fairfax investigation has highlighted the extent of property assets and investments in Australia. In Victoria alone, it is estimated to be $9b. The Age used property valuations on 1,800 church owned properties which included schools, nursing homes, hospitals, offices etc.
The ABC went on to report the following;
Beyond real estate, there was superannuation, telecommunications, Catholic Church Insurance and Catholic Development Funds, which serve as an internal treasury.
Catholics for Renewal's Peter Johnstone, a corporate governance consultant, said most Catholics would have no idea about the extent of the church's assets.
"Certainly there's been no public record available to Catholics," he said.
"I think if anything, The Age has identified a conservative estimate of the worth of the church.
"But they have of course focused on assets as such. There's a lot of other secrecy within the church, and that secrecy must be undone.
"Any organisation receiving public funds should be accountable for those funds and the Government in making those funds available should know exactly how they're being spent."
Professor Ann O'Connell, a taxation specialist at Melbourne University's Law School, said the definition of charity should be examined.
And she said the Catholic Church's tax-free status should be reviewed.
