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Nsw Legal Aid Refuses to Fund Sex Abuse Claims

ABC News
May 19, 2013

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-19/nsw-legal-aid-refuses-to-fund-sex-abuse-claims/4698484

Legal Aid NSW will not fund compensation cases resulting from Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The New South Wales legal aid service has come under fire for its decision not to fund any compensation cases for institutional child sexual abuse.

Legal Aid NSW says it is expecting a large number of compensation applications as a result of the Federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

However, it has decided it will not fund the applications, saying they will impact disproportionately on its budget.

It follows the State Government's recent changes to the Victim's Compensation Scheme which means most victims of institutional abuse would not be eligible for compensation.

Greens MP David Shoebridge says it is a double blow for victims.

"This is a free pass for the Catholic Church and those other institutions that have abused children," he said.

"Just as they thought governments were finally listening to them, they got a Royal Commission, they thought they were being respected, they're now being told that the State Government is entirely going to cut legal aid.

"So they get a Royal Commission but they can never get compensation."

Mr Shoebridge says Legal Aid NSW should be given extra funding to pursue compensation for institutional abuse, saying the funds would be recouped if the claims were successful.

"At the end of the day if there's a solid case and the claims are successful, much of the funding can be recovered from the institutions that have failed these children in the first place," he said.

"This is an investment that the Government needs to make to ensure that victims of abuse get a modicum of justice."

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell has acknowledged that legal aid has scarce resources, but shied away from questions about increasing funding to the service.

"You can only live within your means but I make the point that within the federal royal commission, the argument and what it's been asked to look [at] is how you can get compensation from those institutions who have allegedly been involved in perpetrating this child sexual abuse," he said.




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