$150,000 individual cap on decade-long sex abuse redress scheme

Sex offenders and other serious criminals will be barred from the Turnbull government’s $4bn redress scheme.

Minister for Social Services Christian Porter. Picture Kym Smith

Sex offenders and other serious criminals will be barred from the Turnbull government’s $4 billion redress scheme, which will be introduced to parliament today, offering thousands of child-sex abuse victims personal apologies and up to $150,000 compensation.

The tough conditions will see sex offenders and anyone convicted of a crime with a sentence of five years or more, including homicide, drug or fraud offences, excluded from the scheme in a bid to protect its integrity.

Institutions and states that failed to stop child-sex abuse will face intense pressure to sign up to the scheme that will transform the way abuse survivors are handled, with victims to be judged independently according to the severity of their abuse. The test will be a “reasonable likelihood’’ that the abuse occurred. A special voucher system is being planned so victims can access legal help to ensure they are properly ­informed of their rights.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter is set to introduce the legislation today. It is framed to provide compensation to potentially thousands of abuse victims and to provide a workable scheme for institutions and governments facing billions in payments.

The scheme, if passed by federal parliament, will require participants to release offending institutions from civil liability for the abuse but in turn will enable them to either receive a large one-off payment or an additional top- up payment if any original redress were deemed inadequate.

The states, churches and other institutions will face intense pressure to opt into the scheme amid concerns they will struggle to fund some payments.

The initial legislation will create a commonwealth system and the states will be required to opt in, passing their own laws, to ensure it has a broad national reach.

Mr Porter wants the states and territories to act on the new scheme, which backs most of the demands made by the child sex abuse royal commission.

“The Turnbull government has accepted that the states, territories and churches and charities have required proper consultation before making public statements about opting-in to the commonwealth redress scheme,’’ he said. “But with the introduction of the commonwealth legislation today, we are fast approaching the point where people reasonably expect other governments and institutions will commit themselves to the morally correct position, which is to make public a clear intention to join the commonwealth scheme.

“There has been extensive consultation on the principles and mechanics of the scheme and the legislation which underpins the scheme so that certainty to survivors should be soon achievable with states, territories and institutions being able to publicly declare their decision to opt in sooner, rather than later.’’

The government will accept the vast majority of the child sex abuse royal commission’s recommendations but reject an open-ended scheme — instead capping it at 10 years — and deciding against expanding the range of Medicare-funded counselling and psychological care services.

The scheme will ban sex ­offenders and those convicted of serious drug offences and fraud that carry penalties of five years or more. The decision to ban criminals aims to protect the scheme’s credibility by ensuring public money is not wasted on offenders. The scheme will be managed independently and assess cases according to the type of sexual abuse, the setting it occurred in and the severity of the crime.

A voucher system is to be created to give victims access to legal advice so they can navigate the new scheme, which is due to start at the middle of next year.

Mr Porter said the gravity of the problem had been outlined by the royal commission.

“The redress scheme outlined in the bill includes all commonwealth institutions and makes them accountable for the terrible wrongs done to some of the most vulnerable people in our community — young children,” he said.

“The bill also covers territory institutions, once the two territories have joined the scheme. The royal commission estimated that 60,000 children were sexually abused in Australia’s institutions. These were shocking and inexplicable acts by people responsible for the care and protection of children.’’

The legislation will put significant pressure on the states and institutions to opt into the commonwealth scheme.

South Australia has been considered the state least likely to sign up to the scheme, with Victoria and NSW privately open to it. The core concern of states and institutions is how much the scheme will cost them.

Some institutions are more open to big payments because of historical considerations, including a lack of redress payments ­already paid to victims.