Victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse will have a greater say in how the national redress scheme operates with the appointment of a representative to be included in future governance decisions. Source: The Australian.
On the fourth anniversary of the national apology to victims of institutional child sexual abuse, state and federal ministers have agreed to appoint a survivor voice to work with the Ministers’ governance board to ensure the concerns of victims and survivors are better addressed in the running of the scheme.
Adding a survivor voice into the governance of the redress scheme was one of the key recommendations of its most recent review, conducted in 2021.
That review proposed 38 recommendations for improvement of the scheme, including how the severity and impact of the abuse is assessed, and easing restrictions on eligibility.
The Albanese Government has committed to responding to all the recommendations by early next year, but social services minister Amanda Rishworth said the decision to include a survivor voice in the scheme’s running was an important step forward.
The redress scheme was created as part of the response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, commenced by the Gillard government in 2013.
The changes to the running of the redress scheme come as the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, created last year as a key recommendation of the royal commission, released a new five-year draft strategy for public comment.
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Survivor representative included in governance of redress scheme for child sexual abuse victims (By Stephen Lunn, The Australian)
