Chrissie Foster (Author)
Chrissie Foster was born in Victoria and grew up in Black Rock, a
beachside suburb on Port Phillip Bay. She worked as a public
servant for nine years, during which time she travelled extensively
around Europe, the US and Mexico. She married Anthony in 1980 and
by 1985 they had three beautiful daughters, Emma, Katie and Aimee,
whom they raised in suburban Melbourne with what they hoped were
the right values.
Chrissie could not have known that the stranger-danger she feared
actually lurked in the presbytery attached to the girls' Catholic
primary school, with both Emma and Katie victims of clergy sex
abuse. Chrissie's heartbreaking account of her family's suffering -
and of the Church's lies, silence, denials and threats - Hell on
the Way to Heaven, was published in 2010. The Foster family's case
was one of those that prompted the establishment of the Victorian
Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious
and Other Non-Government Organisations and the subsequent Royal
Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Chrissie has since continued to fight for justice and redress for
victims and survivors of child sexual assault by Catholic clergy.
In 2018 she jointly won the Australian Human Rights Medal with
Chief Royal Commissioner Hon Peter McClellan. Then, in 2019,
Chrissie was named in the Australian Honours List as a Member of
the Order of Australia (AM) 'For significant service to children,
particularly as an advocate for those who have suffered sexual
abuse'. Her ongoing activism inspires others to challenge
once-powerful male-dominated institutions.
Paul Kennedy (Author)
Paul Kennedy is a national television presenter for ABC News
Breakfast. He has worked for three television networks and has
written three books, including co-authoring Hell on the Way to
Heaven (with Chrissie Foster), one of the triggers for Australia's
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual
Abuse.
He lives on the eastern shore of Port Phillip with his wife, Kim,
and their three sons, Jack, Gus and Leo.
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