AUSTRALIA
The Age
Wendy Squires
As someone who has followed the child sex abuse royal commission with horror and fury, my desire (make that demand) has been consistent – make them pay!
My greatest fear was that those innocents, whose dignity, self-esteem and human rights were ripped away by those they trusted, would be abused all over again in their quest for justice. The retelling of their stories would be mere fodder for a news cycle, and then once the hearings concluded, we would all tut tut and go our merry way, grateful that “times have changed” and the culpable institutions had “learnt a lesson”.
But justice has arrived, for living victims at least. Last Friday, the Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, announced a national compensation scheme with payments to victims of up to $150,000. One entity would process claims, with federal backing, thus cutting red tape.
I was jubilant. But I kept reading and my anger returned. Not only is the maximum amount $50,000 lower than the commission’s suggested cap, but a clause allows the (mostly religious) institutions and the states to opt out of contributing.
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