Anglican Church, Salvation Army, Scouts Australia and YMCA join child abuse redress scheme
The Anglican Church, Salvation Army, Scouts Australia and the YMCA will join the redress scheme for child abuse survivors.
The Anglican Church of Australia, the Salvation Army, Scouts Australia and the YMCA will join the $3.8 billion national redress scheme for child sexual abuse survivors.
The announcement was made in Canberra this morning at press conference with Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan, and follows the announcement by the Catholic Church yesterday that it would join the scheme.
The Anglican Church released a statement this morning, saying it has reached “in principle agreement” to join.
“We know that some survivors of abuse have chosen not to engage in our present institutional redress schemes. We hope that our participation in the independent National Redress Scheme will offer a further step to healing,” the Anglican Primate, Archbishop Philip Freier, said in a statement on Thursday.
Malcolm Turnbull welcomed the institutions joining the scheme.
The Prime Minister said redress will be given to people whose lives were “shockingly impacted by sexual abuse”.
“We have to confront the truth that has been revealed, as difficult as it is, and the national redress scheme is part of the healing process,” Mr Turnbull said in a joint statement with Social Services Minister Dan Tehan.
“The governments and institutions that sign up accept the system failed every single person in Australia who suffered sexual abuse in an institution that was meant to protect them.
“Redress is not compensation, however it will acknowledge the hurt and harm suffered by the individual and ensure institutions take responsibility for the abuse that occurred on their watch, by their people.”
Mr Tehan said the government had made rapid progress on the scheme which now covered “80 per cent of survivors who were impacted when they were children with sexual abuse”.
“We still want to make sure that we cover the additional 20 per cent of the survivors but in the last few weeks we have made rapid progress and now we are looking at 80 per cent coverage,” he said.
“Can I thank the institutions here with us today for the leadership they have shown, for owning up to past wrongs, for owning up for behaviour that can only be described as despicable and deplorable, but for wanting to turn a page, to provide redress and to make sure that the survivors get the justice that they deserve.”
Meanwhile, an independent incorporated entity is being established to provide a single point of engagement to enable Anglican bodies to join as part of a national group.
The YMCA also said on Thursday it was working with all 19 YMCAs across Australia to help ensure it can be part of the scheme, once it is expected to start in July.
“We all share the responsibility for responding to survivors of child abuse, just as we all share the responsibility to make sure every child in Australia is safe and protected,” YMCA Australia chief executive officer Melinda Crole said.
“We can’t change the past for survivors, but we can change their future. An effective national redress scheme is critical for ensuring justice and healing for survivors.”
Scouts Australia chief commissioner Neville Tomkins praised the government for providing the scheme to recognise the impact of “horrific crimes”.
Major Brad Halse said the Salvation Army was “profoundly sorry” for the abuse children suffered, and his organisation wants to be ready for the redress scheme from July 1.
Legislation to enable the opt-in scheme passed federal Parliament’s lower house on Tuesday night, and Mr Tehan said the scheme could begin on July 1 if it passed the Senate.
The Catholic Church’s move was significant, given it will be the first non- government institution to opt in to the scheme and because it has estimated it will itself be liable for about $1 billion in compensation.
Western Australia is the final state yet to sign up, although state Attorney- General John Quigley believes the negotiations with the federal government could be finalised within six to eight weeks.
The scheme will cover about 60,000 institutional child sexual abuse survivors nationally, with compensation payments capped at $150,000.
With Greg Brown
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