Prisoners, former child migrants can access child sexual abuse redress scheme

More Australians who have been subjected to child sexual abuse will be eligible for redress under the national scheme after the Albanese government handed down its final response to a landmark review.

More than $1bn in redress payments has been paid out since 2018, and more than 600 organisations including churches, schools, charities and community groups are signed on to the scheme. Picture: iStock

Prisoners and former child migrants will be able to apply for compensation for institutional child sexual abuse under the National Redress Scheme after the Albanese government agreed to a raft of new changes to support the wellbeing of survivors.

But the government won’t change the scheme to remove the requirement for “penetrative sexual abuse” to be the key indicator of severity in redress cases.

The Albanese government has released its final response to the report of an independent review into the National Redress Scheme handed down in March 2021, rejecting just four of the review’s 38 recommendations.

The final report supports the recommendation to remove the restriction on people in prison applying for compensation under the scheme, which has run since 2018 offering capped compensation payments to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

“This change will give prisoners the choice to apply for redress while in jail or wait to apply upon release from jail, making the scheme more trauma-informed and survivor-focused,” it says.

It also expands eligibility for redress to child migrants, some of whom were abused in Australian institutions but may not have Australian citizenship or residency status, which currently precludes them from eligibility.

But a recommendation to amend the assessment framework for determining redress to “remove the sole requirement for the existence of penetrative sexual abuse as a key indicator of severity of abuse” was rejected.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The government’s report said such a change “would constitute a fundamental change to the scheme’s design and operation, risking the viability of institutional participation which is essential for survivors being able to access redress”.

“Such major changes would also introduce complex issues of equity and re-traumatisation risks,” it says.

The original review, conducted by top public servant Robyn Kruk, said the scheme needed a “significant and urgent” reset so applicants had a less onerous path to securing support than through the civil courts.

An interim response from the Coalition government in June 2021 flagged it would act on 25 of the 38 recommendations, but no final response was made before it lost office in May last year.

More than $1bn in redress payments has been paid out since 2018, and more than 600 organisations including churches, schools, charities and community groups are signed on to the scheme.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth accepted it “had taken longer than expected”. “The government’s main concern is the wellbeing of survivors, and ensuring the redress process is as smooth as possible,” Ms Rishworth said.

Clare Leaney, chief executive of survivor support and advocacy organisation In Good Faith Foundation, said she was encouraged to see so many of the recommendations now accepted by the government to “embed the voices of survivors”.

“Any reform that enables more people impacted by child sexual abuse to access pathways to redress is welcome,” she said.