Legislation
The National Redress Scheme has been created in response to recommendations by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse listened to thousands of people about the abuse they experienced as children. The abuse happened in orphanages, Children’s Homes, schools, churches and other religious organisations, sports clubs, hospitals, foster care and other institutions.
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL REDRESS SCHEME?
The National Redress Scheme:
- acknowledges that many children were sexually abused in Australian institutions
- recognises the suffering they endured because of this abuse
- holds institutions accountable for this abuse, and
- helps people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse gain access to counselling, a direct personal response, and a Redress payment.
The National Redress Scheme involves:
- People who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse who can apply for redress.
- Redress Support Services — free, confidential emotional support and legal and financial counselling for people thinking about or applying to the Scheme.
- Participating Institutions that have agreed to provide redress to people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.
- Independent Decision Makers who consider applications and make recommendations and conduct reviews.
Redress payment (monetary payment)
Introduction
The redress payment (monetary payment) is one of 3 parts of redress available through the National Redress Scheme. If the redress payment amount is offered, the eligible person (or their legal nominee) will tell the Scheme if they wish to receive the redress payment when they return their acceptance document.
Amount of redress payment
The NRS Assessment Framework is a guide used by the Independent Decision Maker to determine a person’s redress payment. The amount of money a person can receive depends on their individual experience of sexual abuse as written in their application.
An Independent Decision Maker will assess the information provided to them to determine if the person experienced sexual abuse as defined by the Scheme as well as what kind of sexual abuse. Using column 2 of the table below the Independent Decision Maker will apply the highest monetary payment based on the sexual abuse described in the application, even if the person experienced more than one kind of sexual abuse.
If the person writes about the impact the sexual abuse had on their life, the Independent Decision Maker will then be able to apply the recognition of impact payment in column 3. The amount will be in line with the payment assigned at column 2.
Column 4 is a payment of $5,000. An Independent Decision Maker can apply this payment if the person writes of related non-sexual abuse they experienced. This payment is available regardless of the kind of sexual abuse experienced.
Column 5 is a payment of $5,000. An Independent Decision Maker can apply this payment if the person’s care arrangements made them more vulnerable to abuse. This payment is available regardless of the kind of sexual abuse experienced.
Column 6 is a payment of $50,000 that can be applied where the person experienced penetrative abuse and the Independent Decision Maker determines the person’s experience meets the criteria for extreme circumstances.
The maximum redress payment a person can receive is $150,000.
|
Column 1 Kind of sexual abuse of the person |
Column 2 Recognition of sexual abuse |
Column 3 Recognition of impact of sexual abuse |
Column 4 Recognition of related non-sexual abuse |
Column 5 Recognition person was institutionally vulnerable |
Column 6 Recognition of extreme circumstances of sexual abuse |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penetrative abuse | $70,000 | $20,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Contact abuse | $30,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | Nil |
| 3 | Exposure abuse | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | Nil |
Note 1: Only one item of each column from the table can be relevant to a person (because an item covers all of the sexual abuse of the person that a participating institution is responsible for that is within the scope of the Scheme).
Note 2: The amount of redress payment is also affected by section 30 of the NRSAct and the NRS Rules made for the purposes of that section.
Prior payments
A payment that has previously been paid to a person by an institution for the abuse may be deducted from the amount of redress payment a person can receive. Only payments that the Scheme considers ‘relevant prior payments’ will be deducted from the redress monetary payment amount.
A relevant prior payment is a payment that was made by, or on behalf of, a responsible institution in recognition of the abuse a person experienced or the harm caused by that abuse. The relevant prior payment will be deducted from the amount of the institution’s share of the redress payment it has to pay.
As the value of money changes over time, the Scheme is required to inflate the relevant prior payment using a calculation. This calculation accounts for the number of full years since the person received the payment to the date that the application was submitted to the Scheme. The Operator will contact a person about how the relevant prior payment calculation affects them.
Prior redress, ex gratia, and out of court settlement payments are examples of relevant prior payments, as long as they were made by, or on behalf of the responsible institution in recognition of the abuse or the harm caused by the abuse.
Where a prior payment can be broken down into separate amounts that cover different purposes, only the amounts that were made in recognition of the abuse or the harm caused by the abuse will be treated as a relevant prior payment. Where the payment cannot be broken down into separate amounts, but covered different purposes, the entire amount is treated as a relevant prior payment.
Where a prior payment was made by an institution and it was not in recognition of abuse that the person experienced or the harm caused by the abuse, it will not be considered a relevant prior payment and will not be deducted from the monetary redress amount.
Where an institution made a prior payment to a person and that payment was made towards medical, dental, legal or other expenses, the payment will not be considered as a relevant prior payment and will not be deducted from the monetary redress amount.
Payments that are not considered a relevant prior payment for the purposes of the Scheme include:
certain payments or compensation paid under the
– Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004
– Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests and British Commonwealth Occupation Force (Treatment) Act 2006
– Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988- any payment which is not in recognition of the abuse or harm caused by the abuse
- any payment which can reasonably be attributed to expenses of medical, dental or other treatment (including legal fees)
- any payment for non-sexual abuse if it does not relate to sexual abuse in a person’s application for redress
Amount of counselling and psychological component of redress
The amount of the counselling and psychological component of redress for a person is worked out using the following table:
Amount of counselling and psychological component of redress
|
Column 1 Kind of sexual abuse of the person |
Column 2 Amount of the component |
|
| 1 | Penetrative abuse | $5,000 |
| 2 | Contact Abuse | $2,500 |
| 3 | Exposure abuse | $1,250 |
Beyond Abuse recommends before accepting any redress payments, victim survivors contact Know More legal service at https://knowmore.org.au/redress-and-compensation/redress-scheme/