The Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), an organisation that manages former Catholic Christian Brothers schools in Australia, has agreed to fully compensate survivors of historical clergy abuse after weeks of intense public pressure. The reversal follows controversy over a plan by the Christian Brothers — a Catholic religious order with a long record of abuse — to sell 36 properties worth around $217 million to partially settle claims estimated at $774 million, after having transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in property assets to EREA for as little as $1 each over the preceding decade. EREA will now assume full legal liability for both current and future abuse claims, replacing the Christian Brothers as defendant in court proceedings, a development lawyers for survivors described as a major victory and a warning to other religious orders attempting to shield assets from compensation obligations.