National Redress Scheme for people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse
The National Redress Scheme provides support to people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse.
The establishment of a National Redress Scheme was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
The Scheme:
- acknowledges that many children were sexually abused in Australian institutions
- recognises the harm caused by this abuse
- holds institutions accountable for this abuse
- helps people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse gain access to counselling and psychological services, a direct personal response, and a monetary payment.
The Scheme started on 1 July 2018, and will run for 10 years.
If you are interested in applying for the Scheme more information is available on the National Redress Scheme website.
The Australian Government wants as many people as possible to have access to the Scheme. Institutions must agree to join the Scheme so that they can provide redress to people who experienced child sexual abuse while in the care of their institution.
Many institutions have already agreed to join the Scheme. This includes the Commonwealth, and all state and territory governments and many of the major churches and charities, including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Uniting Church, the Salvation Army, the YMCA and Scouts Australia.
Institutions must agree to join the National Redress Scheme so that they can provide redress to people who experienced child sexual abuse in relation to their institution.
Institutions named in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse or named in an application received by the Scheme must provide a clear written statement setting out their intention to join the Scheme by no later than 30 June 2020. These institutions will be expected to join the Scheme as soon as possible, but no later than 31 December 2020. This additional time reflects the maximum time it takes to complete the on-boarding process and recognises the reduced capacity of many institutions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
If by 30 June 2020 an institution has failed to signify their intention to join the Scheme, they will immediately be publicly identified by the Scheme in accordance with Scheme legislation and jurisdictions will consider other appropriate action. This may include financial sanctions applied by state, territory or Commonwealth governments, and changes to an organisation's charitable status. Naming institutions is necessary to ensure that people wanting to access the Scheme know the status of relevant institutions.
Where the Scheme receives an application naming a previously unnamed non-participating institution after the 30 June 2020 deadline, the Scheme will contact the institution and the institution will be given six months to join. Should that institution fail to join the Scheme within the six months, then the institution will be publicly identified by the Scheme in accordance with Scheme legislation and jurisdictions may apply other appropriate sanctions.
In addition, institutions that are already participating in the Scheme will be allowed to add additional institutions to their participating groups after the 30 June 2020 deadline.
When an institution has completed all the necessary steps to join the scheme, they are declared to be participating by the Minister, and then the list of participating institutions is updated on the National Redress Scheme website on the search for a participating institution page on the website.
People who are interested in the Scheme can be alerted to new information by subscribing to receive updates.
By subscribing to receive updates about the Scheme, you will receive emails when new information about the Scheme is available. This may include when other governments or institutions join the Scheme.
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