Victim of disgraced psychiatrist Dr Julian Kent denied compo payout

A victim of disgraced psychiatrist Dr Julian Kent has been denied ex-gratia compensation – even though he paid hundreds of thousands to other victims.

An Adelaide woman victimised by her psychiatrist over a three-year period has been denied an ex-gratia injuries compensation payment.

The southern suburbs woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was one of three vulnerable women subjected to inappropriate sexual conduct by disgraced psychiatrist Dr Julian Kent.

Dr Kent was investigated by police, but never charged.

However, Dr Kent was banned for life by the SA Health Practitioner’s Tribunal after pleading guilty to professional misconduct after the police inquiry and a subsequent SA Medical Board conduct investigation.

Disgraced psychiatrist Dr Julian Kent.

The tribunal heard he had sexual relationships with the patients over a 12-year period from 2000-12. He had sex with two of the women in his Byron St, Glenelg, consulting rooms and a third at her home, at his home, in his car and in public places.

The southern suburbs woman said unlike the other two women, she did not receive any compensation from him because the lawyer she had acting for her at the time did not submit the correct documentation in time.

It is understood the other two women received out-of-court settlements of several hundred thousand dollars each from Dr Kent to settle their claims before he left Australia several years ago.

The woman said because she could not obtain compensation from Dr Kent, she instructed lawyers to seek an ex-gratia injuries compensation payment from the state government, but her request has been formally denied.

“I feel like I am being re-victimised all over again, I feel like I don’t count,’’ she said.

“I feel like no one believes me and he (Dr Kent) was right, he said no one would believe me if I spoke out, he said people would just think I was suffering from FITH syndrome, that’s what he said to me on the phone.

“There are even phone records of him calling me after I stopped seeing him … telling me not to make trouble for him.’’

The woman, who was being treated by Dr Kent for depression after childhood sexual abuse while she and her younger sister were at Goodwood Orphanage for 18 months, could not make a normal victims-of-crime claim because as there were no criminal charges or conviction against Dr Kent, she could not prove the offending to the required level of beyond reasonable doubt.

The woman said she was devastated at not being included in the initial settlement Dr Kent made to the two other women.

“My claim was mishandled. My current lawyers said I could sue him for negligence, but now they don’t want to do that because it would not be worth the trouble,’’ she said.

She said her only hope for any sort of compensation was an ex-gratia payment from the Victims of Crime fund, which can only be made at the discretion of the Attorney-General.

“When it was lodged, they told my lawyer they needed more proof of what had taken place, despite having the judgment from the tribunal that spelt out what had taken place,’’ she said.

“I had to sign to give access to my medical records and psychiatric reports, they had all of that.

“There has been no justice in this for me at all.”