‘Genuine reform’ of National Redress Scheme needed, say lawyers

The Australian National Audit Office quietly released to parliament a performance audit report into the Department of Social Services’ management of the National Redress Scheme on 24 November. In accordance with the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth), Dr Caralee McLiesh undertook an independent performance audit on the Department of Social Services (DSS) that, ultimately, showed the Scheme was only partially effective in its operations and delivery.

The National Redress Scheme provides support to people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse in Australian institutions, and, ostensibly, holds institutions accountable for this abuse. The Scheme started on 1 July 2018 and ends on 30 June 2028.

The total budget for the life of the Scheme was over $5 billion as at July 2025 and as at 4 July this year, there were 63,995 applications to the Scheme, 60 per cent of which were still awaiting outcomes. Non-government participating institutions are liable for the costs of providing redress, with $1.7 billion in compensation paid at 4 July.

The auditor-general found that, as of the end of June, victim-survivors faced an average time of 16 months for the processing of an application to be completed.

Over the last eight years, there have been 5 major reviews of the Scheme, but auditing the implementation of recommendations has been neglected.

LSJ Online spoke with solicitors Rachel Neil and Sean Bowes from Knowmore. a community legal centre that provides free, independent legal advice and multidisciplinary support for survivors of child sexual abuse.

Neil is Executive Director of Integrated Services and a solicitor registered in Queensland, and Bowes is Manager of Advocacy and Law Reform, and is a NSW-registered solicitor.

Bowes says, “Previous reviews have contributed to significant changes to the National Redress Scheme, improving victims’ and survivors’ access to and experience of seeking redress. The audit report is significant and its release coincides with a new inquiry into the National Redress that began in October 2025. We expect that these reviews will result in some genuine reform and will advocate strongly to see that it happens.”

Establishment and scope of the Scheme

The Australian Government established the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. It was a response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which held 57 formal public hearings between 2013 and 2017. Those hearings exposed evidence about child sexual abuse within institutions, from 1,200 witnesses over 400 days of hearings, across Australian capital cities and in several regions. The final report of the commission was made public on 15 December 2017.

In 2018, then Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, delivered a National Apology Address, stating in part:

“… The crimes of ritual sexual abuse happened in schools, churches, youth groups, scout troops, orphanages, foster homes, sporting clubs, group homes, charities, and in family homes as well. It happened anywhere a predator thought they could get away with it, and the systems within these organisations allowed it to happen and turned a blind eye. It happened day after day, week after week, month after month, and decade after decade. Unrelenting torment. When a child spoke up, they weren’t believed and the crimes continued with impunity.”

He announced the National Redress Scheme with the support of the states and territories; the National Office of Child Safety within the Department of Social Services; and a National Centre of Excellence to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse, to deal with the stigma, to support help seeking and guide best practice for training and other services.

The Scheme operates under the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018 (Cth) with a legislated term of ten years.

Redress under the Scheme consists of

• a monetary payment of up to $150,000 to survivors
• a counselling and psychological component: either access to counselling and psychological services or a monetary payment up to $5,000
• a direct personal response to survivors from the Participating Institutions and partly Participating Institutions responsible

An applicant is eligible to receive redress if they are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, were born before 30 June 2010; and experienced sexual abuse while under 18 years of age, in an Australian institution, on the premises of an institution or where activities of an institution took place, or by an official of an institution.

When it ends in 2028, there is no clarity on the future of redress for victims.

Bowes says, “The Australian Government has provided almost no information about the future of redress beyond the legislated end of the National Redress Scheme on 1 July 2028. What’s clear is that the National Redress Scheme is not on-track to deliver redress to all eligible victims and survivors, and will require an extension to even process applications currently with the Scheme. It’s also clear that institutional child sexual abuse did not end with the creation of the National Redress Scheme in 2018. The Australian Government must act to ensure that victims and survivors have access to meaningful redress and justice-making options beyond 1 July 2028.”

Proposed improvements have been accepted by DSS

Five recommendations were made to the DSS regarding communication with stakeholders, quality assurance of application decisions, oversight of service delivery from Services Australia, establishing efficiency indicators and monitoring of review recommendations, all of which have been agreed to.

One of the major concerns for victim-survivors and advocates is the lack of detailed communication planning for the end of the Scheme. The report found an inherent lack of transparency owing to poor evaluation and inconsistent communication strategies: “By June 2025, the Scheme had engaged with 63,738 applicants and 911 institutions. The lack of comprehensive communications evaluation and shared risks reporting limited the department’s ability to identify and act on opportunities to improve Scheme performance.”

It also found that “data and reporting practices lacked consistency over the life of the Scheme, including on complaints and institutional onboarding. An Independent Decision-making Quality Framework, established in 2021 to ensure consistency of decision-making, was not implemented as intended.”

Bowes says, “Many reviews have made many recommendations to improve the consistency, transparency and fairness of redress decisions, but these recommendations have not been fully implemented. We were particularly concerned by the audit’s finding that a framework for consistent decision making in 2021 was not implemented as intended.”

The report emphasised the pressing need to accelerate application evaluations and to streamline payment processes for both victims and onboarding the institutions liable to make payments. It also raised the alarming issue of a lack of transparency and consistency in evaluating applications, stating “[a]n Independent Decision-making Quality Framework was established in 2021. The Framework was not reviewed annually as required, and the intended sampling to review decision making by Independent Decision Makers to ensure consistency was not done.”

A long and drawn-out wait

In 2015 the Royal Commission estimated that there were 60,000 eligible survivors who would make a claim for payment under a redress scheme, however at 4 July 2025 the department reported that there had been 63,995 applications, of which over half were awaiting an outcome.

Neil says, “In our experience, many victims and survivors wait much longer than this. For example, our clients often wait two years to receive a redress outcome, even in matters that – to us – appear to be relatively straightforward. If a client applies for an internal review of a redress decision, they often have to wait a further two years to receive the review outcome, leading to a total wait time of 4 years or longer to receive a final outcome from the NRS.”

The delay may be explained by the lack of manpower. The Scheme Operator has delegated the power to make determinations under the Act to Independent Decision Makers (IDMs). As at 30 June this year, there were 65 IDMs engaged by the department.

Neil adds, “This waiting causes significant distress, as applicants sit with the anxiety of not knowing whether they will be believed and receive a redress payment. Victims and survivors often defer making decisions about other legal action while the National Redress Scheme processes their application. The Royal Commission recognised that institutional child sexual abuse has harmful impacts on the economic security of many victims and survivors. This is consistent with the experience of many of Knowmore’s clients, who are living in poverty, and cannot afford to wait months or years for a redress payment.”

The complexity of applications takes a toll on victims

Neil says, “The application process for the National Redress Scheme is challenging in various ways. The legal framework is complex – many victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse are not eligible for the National Redress Scheme or will not be offered an adequate payment, for a range of reasons. There can be difficulties in providing sufficient evidence to convince the National Redress Scheme of our clients’ experiences, and in challenging decisions that we think are incorrect or inappropriate.”

The scheme is not the sole avenue victim-survivors have.

Neil says, “If a victim-survivor does not accept an offer from the National Redress Scheme, or if their application to the National Redress Scheme is rejected, the victim-survivor can still pursue any other options that might be available to them. Determining which options are relevant for a particular victim-survivor is a complex legal task. Depending on the circumstances, a victim-survivor’s redress and compensation options might include a civil claim for compensation, a state/territory-government based victims support scheme, a redress scheme provided by an institution where abuse occurred, or a compensation or restitution order against an offender as part of a criminal law process.”

However, she adds, “There are significant inconsistencies in how many of these options work across Australia’s 8 different states and territories. All Australian states and territories have removed time limits for civil claims for institutional child sexual abuse… We consider that getting legal advice about all options at the start of a victim-survivor’s journey is crucial to them making informed choices about what option is best for them.”

Until 6 February 2026, anyone can have their say on the future of the National Redress Scheme by making a submission to the Joint Standing Committee’s inquiry.

The terms of reference are the topics that the Joint Standing Committee has asked about. These submissions can be confidential, and may come in the form of audio, video, or written material. One of the key priorities is to ascertain what victim-survivors and advocates wish to see in the lead-up to the legislated end date of the Scheme, and beyond.