Support is available to help you if you need it. To find out more, go to www.nationalredress.gov.au/help-support/get-free-help-apply/redress-support-services.

If you need immediate support, 24-hour telephone assistance is available through:

The National Redress Scheme Amendment Bill 2023 passes through Parliament

On Wednesday 20 March 2024, the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) passed through the Australian Parliament. The Bill will implement outstanding measures from the Australian Government’s response to the Final Report of the Second Year Review of the National Redress Scheme.

The next step required to put these changes into effect is for the Bill to receive Royal Assent(Opens in a new tab/window), which will occur in the coming days. Most of the measures in the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment Act 2024 will then come into effect 7 days after Royal Assent.

The key changes of the Bill include:

  • applicants will be able to provide additional information when requesting a review
  • the circumstances where applicants must undertake a special assessment process will be reduced
  • finalised applications will be able to be reassessed if a relevant institution later joins the Scheme
  • people who are incarcerated will be able to lodge an application
  • the Scheme’s protected information framework will be amended to enable the disclosure of protected information in select circumstances
  • technical aspects of Funder of Last Resort provisions will be improved.

The Scheme will contact applicants who may be impacted by these amendments and will provide additional information about the amendments once the changes take effect.

Survivor Roundtable in Perth

The National Redress Scheme Survivor Roundtable, hosted by the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth, was held in Perth on 6 March 2024. The event was attended by 35 survivors and their support people, as well as Minister Rishworth, Minister Winton representing the Western Australian state government, and the Department’s Secretary Ray Griggs in his role as National Redress Scheme Operator.

The Scheme is grateful for the engagement of all who attended, for those who generously shared their experiences of the Scheme, and to those who bravely spoke about their stories. Roundtable attendees came from many backgrounds including members of the Stolen Generations, former child migrants and care leavers (Forgotten Australians).

Topics of the event included accessibility and awareness of the Scheme, interactions with other government agencies or services, and how a redress outcome had impacted their lives. These valuable contributions were insightful and will be used to inform future operational and processing matters for the Scheme.

The next Roundtable will be held in the second half of this year.

Direct Personal Response Soft Outreach Trial

From Tuesday 12 March 2024, the Scheme has launched a trial aimed at supporting survivors to commence, continue or finalise their Direct Personal Response (DPR).

A DPR is one of the components of an offer of redress where a survivor can choose to receive meaningful and personalised recognition of the abuse they experienced from the institution/s found responsible for their abuse.

The trial is being coordinated by the Direct Personal Response Information and Support Service (the Service) and will run for 6 months. Only a select group of survivors will be contacted as part of this trial, and participation is optional.

If you require more information or assistance with your DPR, please contact the Scheme on 1800 737 377 Monday to Friday 8am – 5pm AET and ask to speak with the Service. If you have questions or feedback about this trial, you can contact the Service directly by emailing dprsupport@dss.gov.au.

Community Workshop in Victoria

A free community workshop about the National Redress Scheme will be held in Traralgon, Victoria on 18 April 2024.

It will be led by Redress Support Services and is open to community organisations that support people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse. The session will include information about the purpose and function of the Scheme, ways to engage with the Scheme, and how to access further support.

Representatives from the Scheme will be in attendance and will participate in a Question & Answer session, engaging in discussions with attendees. There will also be presentations from various Redress Support Services and from knowmore Legal Service.

Please note, these workshops are intended for staff in community groups, organisations and services. There is limited capacity for each event.

These sessions are part of a series of Redress Support Service-led workshops to raise awareness of the Scheme. The next event will be held in New South Wales, and the Scheme is looking to organise two community-based workshops in the Northern Territory. To register your interest in future workshops, please contact DSSRedressEngagement@dss.gov.au.

Scheme Data

As at 15 March 2024, there have been 38,537 applications to the Scheme. We have contacted 16,962 applicants to advise them of the outcome of their application.

Of all applications:

  • 15,747 have been finalised (determined as either eligible or ineligible, with offers of Redress either accepted or declined)
  • 14,716 payments have been made totalling approximately $1.31 billion dollars
  • 1,522 have been withdrawn by the applicant
  • 21,268 applications are on hand with the Scheme, of which:
    • 1,069 are with applicants, awaiting a decision on their offer of Redress
    • 808 are with institutions, awaiting a response to a Request for Information
    • 5,897 are on hold (for reasons such as at the request of the applicant; where further information has been requested from the applicant, where there is difficulty contacting the applicant or due to a non-participating institution)
    • 13,494 are in progress with the Scheme, of which:
    • 11,130 are being actioned
    • 2,364 are temporarily unable to be actioned (for reasons such as awaiting contact from the applicant, or awaiting extra information).

Participating institutions update

The Australian Government encourages all institutions who have a history of interacting with children to sign up to the Scheme as soon as possible.

As at March 2024, data regarding participating institutions remains the same as included in January's update.

The Declarations are available on the Federal Register of Legislation:

For the latest information about institutions, visit our website.

Find out more

For further information about the Scheme, go to www.nationalredress.gov.au or call 1800 737 377 Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm AET from Australia. If you are overseas, please call +61 2 6222 3455 and then press 7 to be transferred to the National Redress Scheme.

For regular updates about the Department of Social Services and the Scheme, you can ‘like’ or ‘follow’ the Australian Families Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FamiliesInAustralia/(Opens in a new tab/window).

The Australian Government acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and community. We pay our respects to the Elders both past and present.

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