Australian church apologises to British child migrants

Australia's Catholic Church has apologised to British children who were abused in church-run orphanages.

The children were sent to Australia during and after the Second World War.

In a submission to a federal government inquiry into child migration, Catholic Church spokesman Tony Shanahan said the experience had profound affects on the lives of many men and women.

"We are painfully aware that some children suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse and this is a source of deep shame and regret for us," Mr Shanahan said.

"We are sorry that some of those vulnerable children who should have found care and protection in our Catholic institutions suffered abuse."

Mr Shanahan said it was appropriate for the Church to apologise even if "some of the hurtful consequences" of Catholic care were unintended, or the result of good intentions.

Some 10,000 British children - many of them orphaned during the war - were sent to Australia about 50 years ago in a co-operative migration effort with Britain.

The policy was partly driven by Australia's postwar hunger for immigrants.

In 1998, the British Government held an inquiry into the treatment of children sent to Australia, New Zealand and Canada which found that many were abused.

It set up a A$2.5m fund to sponsor family reunions.