National Redress Scheme update

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse listened to thousands of stories of survivors and family members of child sexual abuse in institutions.

The Royal Commission made many recommendations including the creation of a single National Redress Scheme to acknowledge the abuse that survivors have endured and recognise and hold institutions accountable.

What is the National Redress Scheme? 

In October 2017, the Government introduced bills to Parliament outlining a proposed Redress Scheme and on 1 July 2018 the National Redress Scheme began operation.  Applications are open until 30 June 2027. 

The National Redress Scheme allows survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to receive: 

1. A direct personal response, such as an apology, from the responsible institution

2. Access to free counselling and psychological services or payment of up to $5,000 in you live in South Australia or overseas, and 

3. A National Redress Scheme payment of up to $150,000 (the average redress payment is around $80,000)

Who is eligible for the National Redress Scheme?

You are eligible for redress if:

• You experienced sexual abuse when you were under the age of 18 years old

• You were born before 30 June 2010

• The abuse happened before 1 July 2018 and while you were in an:

• Institution

• On the premises of an institution or where activities of an institution took place (such as a camp)

• The abuse happened before 1 July 2018 and you were abused by an official of an institution

• You are an Australian citizen or permanent resident when you apply, unless an exception applies to you as a former child migrant who:

• Was sent to Australia from the United Kingdom or Malta prior to 1984

• Arrived in Australia without a parent or guardian, and

• Were made ward of the state

Other rules around eligibility for the National Redress Scheme may apply depending on your circumstances. It’s important to seek advice from a legal expert before applying for the National Redress Scheme.

Which institutions are participating?

The National Redress Scheme website keeps a list of thousands of institutions that are participating, including some institutions that no longer exist. If an institution is not listed because it no longer exists, the Scheme will investigate whether an existing participating institution will take on responsibility. 

As participation in the Redress Scheme is voluntary, some culpable non-government institutions refuse to participate. Where an institution refuses to participate a survivor can still make an application. However, unless the institution agrees to opt-in, the survivor may need to consider other forms of compensation outside of the National Redress Scheme.

How will the amount of redress be calculated?

The amount that a person will be awarded under the National Redress Scheme is calculated taking into account the severity of the abuse, the impact of the abuse, as well as relevant circumstances. 

The maximum payment of $150,000 will only be paid in circumstances of extreme abuse including penetrative abuse of a person who was institutionally vulnerable, where there was related non-sexual abuse and where it would be reasonable to conclude that the sexual abuse was so egregious, long-term or disabling to the person as to be particularly severe. 

Prior payments made for abuse will be taken into account and may affect the payment amount offered to a survivor. If the prior payments do not relate to the abuse in your application, they won't be considered.

The amount of the redress compensation cannot be used to recover debts due to the Commonwealth and is not subject to income tax. 

Standard of proof

The test of ‘reasonable likelihood’ is the standard applied to assess applications for redress. ‘Reasonable likelihood’ means that the chance of an event occurring or not occurring is real – not fanciful or remote. When the National Redress Scheme was being designed, some institutions argued that a higher standard of proof should apply because insurance companies will not allow the institutions to recoup their losses if the threshold is as low as ‘reasonable likelihood’. This concern was dismissed as irrelevant in the context of the overarching goal, which is to provide a survivor-focused redress scheme to those who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse. 

Definition of sexual abuse 

For the purposes of the Redress Scheme, sexual abuse of a child is defined as including: 

“…any act which exposes the person to, or involves the person in, sexual processes beyond the person’s understanding or contrary to accepted community standards (e.g. exposing a child to pornography).” 

Survivors will be able to include multiple episodes of child sexual abuse and related non-sexual abuse suffered in multiple institutions in one application. However, each survivor is limited to one application for redress. Individualised advice about whether abuse is sexual in nature should be obtained before making an application. 

Criminal convictions

People with criminal convictions for which they served a custodial sentence of five or more years are still eligible to seek a redress payment. However, on this occasion, the Redress Scheme applies a special process. This involves the Redress Scheme considering information about: 

• the nature of the offence and length of imprisonment it carried; 

• the period of time since the offence was committed and your rehabilitation since the offence; and 

• any other relevant information. 

Acceptance of offers of redress 

Survivors are able to choose whether to accept one, two or all three of the components of redress (counselling, a redress payment and a direct personal response). Applicants who are offered a redress payment have six months to decide whether to accept the offer. The scheme may agree to an extension of time for a further six months in some circumstances if requested. You can request this by contacting the National Redress Scheme directly on 1800 737 377.

Deed of release

A person who accepts an offer of redress will be required to release responsible participating institutions from liability for the sexual abuse (and related non-sexual abuse) for which redress is being provided. 

However, survivors who signed deeds of release when offered low payments from institutions in the past will have those deeds waived by participating institutions to allow these survivors to access a top-up payment through redress.

National Redress Scheme legal advice

Survivors may find legal advice helpful at different stages of their application including: 

• prior to the application so survivors understand eligibility requirements and the application process of the scheme; 

• during the completion of an application; 

• after a survivor has received an offer of redress and elects to seek an internal review; and, 

• on the effect of signing the acceptance document, which contains the release of future civil liability for participating responsible institutions and its impact on the prospect of future litigation. 

Understanding your legal options before applying for the National Redress Scheme is important. This advice can be provided for free by contacting knowmore, an independent legal service provider.

Other legal options outside of the redress

Other options for compensation outside of the redress scheme may be available to survivors of abuse. These alternative avenues may be possible through common law or statutory law claims.

In cases where a survivor is seeking compensation through these alternative avenues, Shine Lawyers may be able to help.

Get in touch with our team of abuse law legal experts by contacting us online or phoning us on 13 11 99. Alternatively, you can use our free claim checker below to see if you have an abuse law claim for compensation through common law or statutory law.