‘Life-changing’: Ashley class action lawyer praises Tasmania’s quarter-billion dollar abuse payout total

The lawyer who led the Ashley class action has welcomed new figures revealing the government has paid a total of $242m to survivors of state abuse – including $116m in this year alone.

Class action lawyer Angela Sdrinis outside Hobart Supreme Court in 2024. Picture: Linda Higginson

The lawyer who led a successful class action on behalf of former Ashley Youth Detention Centre detainees has welcomed new figures revealing the Tasmanian government has paid out a total of $242 million to victim-survivors of historical institutional abuse – including $116 million in the current financial year alone.

While Angela Sdrinis said under-resourcing continued to hamper the Tasmanian court system’s ability to resolve claims in a timely manner, she praised the increasing amounts complainants were receiving through “life-changing” payouts from the state.

According to Department of Justice figures provided to the Mercury, the Tasmanian government had paid claimants under the National Redress scheme a total of $81.386 million to 11 April this year, while a further $160.809 million had been spent to the same date on civil claims.

The figures also revealed a dramatic rise in both the annual totals, and average payout amounts, provided to civil litigants over the last three years.

While the government made average civil payments of $333,000 from a total of $10.99 million in 2022/23, this rose to an average of $613,000 from the $107,306.91 million which has been paid so far in the current financial year.

The 2024/25 civil total includes the $75 million Ms Sdrinis helped negotiate for 129 former AYDC detainees in a pioneering settlement approved by the Supreme Court of Tasmania last year.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre. Picture: File

Ms Sdrinis said Tasmania’s growing payout trend was being reflected nationally, through a combination of favourable precedents, and an increasing willingness by judges to award damages for the pain, suffering, and economic loss caused by abuse.

“Tasmania probably used to have one of the lowest awards for abuse, but it has improved in leaps and bounds as these figures show,” she said.

“I certainly think the Tasmanian government is taking these claims seriously, but where we hit walls in the state is with under-resourcing, especially in relation to Right to Information.

“For example, it can take two years to obtain records, which is completely unacceptable.

“We also know that the government is struggling to find enough lawyers to manage these cases, which causes significant delays in our capacity to progress claims.

“Tasmania’s courts are also under-resourced. In Victoria, you will get an urgent directions hearing date within a week. In Tasmania, it can be up to 10 weeks sometimes, which is not so urgent.

“But there’s obviously been a significant improvement in the average payments in Tasmania, which are now probably more than in the ACT or Queensland.

“So Tasmania is now punching above its weight in some aspects.

“The state government can do better, but there has been a real improvement, and I want to acknowledge that.”

Last year, the Tasmanian government announced it was setting aside a $600 million budgetary provision to cover future civil and National Redress Scheme claims made by victim-survivors of institutional abuse.

The move followed the August 2023 release of the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings final report.

The 3000-page document contained 75 findings and 191 recommendations — including the closure of AYDC — which the government is implementing in a three-phase plan extending out to 2029.

Ms Sdrinis said financial compensation had the capacity to change the direction of victim-survivors’ life.

“We discovered that 80 per cent of our client base in the Ashley class action had gone on to do adult jail time, so it was no surprise that the vast majority of them later suffered poverty, homelessness, and unstable housing situations,” she said.

“So the fact that most group members can now afford to buy a roof over their head for the first time in their lives is absolutely amazing, and it’s why we do the work we do.

“These payments are just hugely, hugely significant to people.”

Originally published as ‘Life-changing’: Ashley class action lawyer praises Tasmania’s quarter-billion dollar abuse payout total