$4 Billion Cost for National Abuse Compensation Scheme

By Sarah Martin
The Australian
November 5, 2016

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A national compensation fund for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse is expected to cost more than $4 billion, with the federal government challenging states, charities and church groups to fund the long-awaited redress scheme for tens of thousands of victims.

NSW and Victoria yesterday welcomed the Turnbull government’s announcement for a ­national opt-in compensation scheme to be rolled out over 10 years from 2018, but victims’ groups warned of a “two-tiered” system dependent on where ­victims were abused if some states refused to sign up.

Announcing the federal government would provide between $550 million and $770m to the fund for cases where it was the ­responsible entity, Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the “best practice” scheme would provide psychological support and individual payments of up to $150,000 for each victim.

He said the “simple and supportive” system would attempt to make the process of redress as easy as possible, and would also provide trauma counselling for survivors and the opportunity for victims to tell their stories to the relevant institution.