Potential criminal charge for ABC's relentlessly-sloppy Louise Milligan over latest get-George-Pell bullshit article

Screenshot 2025-02-10 at 09.09.00


Screenshot 2025-02-10 at 09.09.00

The ABC took several days to remove an online article about the late cardinal George Pell – written by high-profile Four Corners journalist Louise Milligan – even though the national broadcaster was told by the Albanese government that it may have committed a criminal act by publishing it.

The federal Department of ­Social Services, which administers the national redress scheme for victims of alleged institutional child abuse, also issued an identical letter to niche magazine The Monthly after it ran a separate feature essay on Pell – also written by Milligan – as the cover story of its February issue.

The letters from the DSS to the ABC and The Monthly informed the media outlets that strict privacy requirements were breached in the publication of the articles.

“The department takes the protection of information provided or obtained for the purposes of the scheme very seriously and will take whatever steps it considers necessary to achieve this,” the letters state.

“Given (the ABC/The ­Monthly) have received this information in circumstances that constitute a criminal offence, the department requests the (ABC/The Monthly) considers removing the article and video from publication, including its website(s).

“We also request that the (ABC/The Monthly) considers not using this protected information in the future.”

It is understood the department’s stance on the safeguarding of protected information is informed by the need to maintain the integrity of scheme processes and decision making.

The letters from the DSS were sent on January 31 but the ABC and The Monthly didn’t removed the articles from their respective platforms until February 5.

The Monthly also removed the print edition from sale in ­Victoria.

A spokesperson for The Monthly said in a statement: “We received no communications from the DSS.

“Had we received such a letter we would have sought – and followed – immediate legal advice. I do note that the question of the National Redress Scheme Act was one we considered carefully ahead of publication.

The late Cardinal George Pell at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Picture: Andrew Quilty.
The late Cardinal George Pell at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Picture: Andrew Quilty.

“The article was removed on February 5 – the same day we learnt of the civil action.” The Australian has obtained a copy of the letter from the DSS to The Monthly on January 31.

A spokesperson for the ABC did say that it “will be reinstating the story after the upcoming civil case” – despite the DSS requesting that they refrain from doing so, as it would again breach the redress act.

“The story has been temporarily removed pending the completion of separate court proceedings that are yet to be in the public domain and then will be reinstated. The ABC stands by Louise Milligan’s reporting and the story,” the spokesperson said.

The DSS letter of January 31 stated there was no journalism exemption in relation to dealings with protected information.

“The (redress) act makes it a criminal offence for anyone to, obtain, make a record of, use or disclosure of protected information except where authorised in very limited circumstances,” the letter said.

“It is clear there has been an unauthorised disclosure of protected information to the ABC.”

In a statement posted to LinkedIn on Thursday, Milligan wrote: “As journalists, it’s vitally important that we abide by the laws that govern our practice and are designed to protect our system of justice.

“A completely unforeseen and unknown development has meant that in order to do this, we have had to make the difficult decision to temporarily remove a cover story investigation by me of The Monthly magazine and a story on ABC News.”

The privacy and confidentiality requirements of the redress scheme have been in place since the scheme was set up in 2018.

A spokesperson for the DSS said: “The Department of Social Services confirms that it wrote to both The Monthly and the ABC about potential unauthorised disclosure of protected information under the National Redress Scheme on 31 January 2025. The ABC responded to the department.”


Peak lawfare - Obama-era Judge bars Trump's Treasury Secretary from running Treasury

Thanks to reader KB for the tip.

  • removed Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent from his authority over the Treasury Department; 
  • blocked any political appointee from accessing records within the Treasury Department;
  • blocked any “special appointee” of President Trump from records within Treasury;
  • demanded that all information previously extracted be destroyed.