Victoria and New South Wales are the first Australian states to commit to a national redress scheme for victims of institutional child sexual abuse, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced.
The move comes in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and covers about 9,000 people who were abused in NSW Government institutions, about 5,000 people abused in Victorian Government institutions and 1,000 people abused in institutions under the responsibility of the Commonwealth Government.
It also opens the way for churches, charities and other non-government organisations in NSW and Victoria to join the scheme which would see the numbers of people able to seek redress climb to 11,000 people in NSW and 10,000 people in Victoria.
Under the redress scheme, those abused will be able to access compensation, counselling and other support.
Making the announcement on Friday morning, Mr Turnbull said: “We owe it to the survivors for their courage in telling stories they have been too afraid to speak of, often for decades.”
“Now that those stories have been told, now that they are on the record, we must do everything within our power to honour those stories and to act and to make sure that this national tragedy is never repeated,” he said, urging the other state and territory governments to join the scheme.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said redress was an “important part of recognising the lifelong impact of child abuse on survivors, many of whom carry the scars decades after the abuse occurred” while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews added that while the terrible harm can never be erased, “a national redress scheme may finally give survivors of institutional child sexual abuse the acknowledgement and dignity they have long fought for and deserve”.
Subject to the passage of legislation, the scheme will commence on 1st July.
People who need immediate assistance can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380.
