The Christian Brothers sought a permanent halt to hundreds of cases lodged by survivors of abuse at its schools and orphanages. The organization argued it was about to go broke and could not afford to meet the claims, proposing a scheme to divide proceeds from property sales among creditors, including survivors.

The Christian Brothers informed survivors and other creditors that the sale of property would not be enough to pay each person what they are entitled to. The proposed scheme involves selling its remaining property portfolio and establishing a court-supervised framework with retired judges to distribute the proceeds.

Church property records show the Christian Brothers transferred holdings of land, school buildings, and homes to Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) for $1 each over the past decade. EREA took over the running of former Christian Brothers schools from 2007. According to its financial report from December 2024, EREA received transferred land valued at $891 million. Proxy adviser Dean Paatsch estimated the value of property transferred to EREA could now be $2 billion.

EREA stated it will not sell property to help the Christian Brothers pay survivors. An EREA spokesperson said the property was transferred as part of a slow, progressive process of turning over Christian Brothers school land and property to EREA.

A Christian Brothers spokesperson said, "Seeking a moratorium on all civil proceedings ensures that all claimants under the proposed creditors scheme of arrangement will be treated equally, assuming the moratorium is granted and creditors and court approve the scheme." The spokesperson added that their advisers regarding the proposed sell-off scheme were not involved in the past transfer of property to EREA. If the moratorium is not granted, the order would enter liquidation, a Christian Brothers spokesperson said.

One abuse survivor's trial against the Christian Brothers was aborted at the 11th hour. Another survivor, whose claim had recently settled, took out a loan expecting funds from the Christian Brothers, which will now not be disbursed. "After every delaying tactic in the book was used up – to be told that there is little, perhaps no money available after years of my family and myself hanging on by our fingernails, days before trial, is like my white-collared, black-robed rapist returning to finish me off with four deep thrusts of a sharp, long-bladed knife to the back, after fifty years of gradual, painful, delayed death," one abuse survivor stated.

Jodie Harris, a partner at law firm Arnold Thomas & Becker, represents 78 claims against the Christian Brothers. Harris said, "[Survivors] know about the movement of assets to Edmund Rice over a period of time, and for them, all it is is the Christian Brothers trying to protect themselves again, at [expense to] their lives that have been devastated." She added, "We are looking very, very hard at that."

A spokesperson for Attorney General Michelle Rowland said the government "takes any alleged attempts by institutions to hide assets from victims of child sexual abuse extremely seriously." A third survivor reported lifelong impacts from abuse in the 1970s. "Failed relationships, depression and repeated suicide attempts have haunted me throughout my life," the survivor stated. This individual added, "Last week, when I heard about the Christian Brother's transferring ownership of the St Kevins property and other assets into another name, I felt betrayed – again."