Deadline for institutions to sign up to redress today - Media Release

LINDA BURNEY MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
MEMBER FOR BARTON

MARK DREYFUS
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
MEMBER FOR ISAACS

ANDREW LEIGH MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TREASURY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CHARITIES
MEMBER FOR FENNER

DEADLINE FOR INSTITUTIONS TO SIGN UP TO REDRESS TODAY

The deadline for recalcitrant institutions named by the Royal Commission to commit to signing up to the National Redress Scheme is today.

It has been almost five years since Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its interim report recommending the establishment of a National Redress Scheme.

Survivors of institutional child sexual abuse have waited long enough for redress. Many have passed away without receiving redress because many institutions have failed to sign up to the scheme.

The royal commission estimated 60,000 survivors would be eligible for redress.

As at 29 May 2020 however, only 2,250 payments have been made. 840 applications for redress have been put on hold, 525 of which are a result of institutions having been named but not yet joining the scheme.

The Government has been threatening to publicly name institutions which have yet to sign up for sometime now.

Yet the Government has failed to take action on this, while survivors continue to miss out.

Labor has consistently called for these institutions to be publicly named and for future federal funding agreements for institutions to be made contingent on signing up to the scheme.

The Government should also sanction organisations that do not sign up – including reviewing their charitable status and funding.

In April, Labor called for the introduction of an advanced payment scheme whereby the Government provides redress on behalf of institutions to survivors who are terminally ill or elderly so that they don’t miss out.

Labor has also called on the Government to:

  • speed up the decision making process; fix the arbitrary assessment matrix;
  • lift the cap on payments to $200,000 as recommended by the Royal Commission;
  • expand funder of last resort provisions; and
  • end the indexing of prior payments.

It’s time for institutions to the do the right thing and sign up to the scheme. It’s time for the Government to act on institutions which have failed to do so.

Survivors should not miss out on redress.

ENDS

Authorised by Paul Erickson, ALP, Canberra.


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Cnr Gungahlin Pl and Efkarpidis Street, Gungahlin ACT 2912 | 02 6247 4396 | [email protected] | Authorised by A. Leigh MP, Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch), Canberra.