Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here to speak on the National Redress Scheme for Institutionalised Child Sexual Abuse Amendment (Technical Amendments) Bill 2020. Each of us in this place has a duty to confront the history of institutionalised child sexual abuse that haunts many Australians to this day. As a psychologist, I have worked with some of the most vulnerable members of our community. I know their stories. I have seen firsthand the ongoing trauma that child sexual abuse survivors live with: significant mental health issues that translate to a range of social, emotional, behavioural and interpersonal difficulties that are lifelong. Psychological treatment is imperative, and there is no doubt that the National Redress Scheme for institutionalised child sexual abuse plays an important role in rectifying past injustice and pain. It ensures that abusers are held to account, that institutional cultures change and that survivors are compensated. Over the past two years, the scheme has secured the participation of all states and territories, and, as of September last year, 272 non-government institutions are participating in the scheme. This means that the scheme now covers over 52,000 sites across Australia. These are the institutions and organisations that families and the community trust with their children. There is no greater horror as a parent than realising that this trust has been broken—that the vulnerability of your child has been exploited. It is imperative that these institutions are held accountable.

For this reason, it is promising that over 3,600 payments have been made to survivors to date, totalling approximately $298 million. Improvements have been made to the scheme during the initial two years of operation, but we need to do more to make sure the scheme is operating as well as it can be. Putting in place further improvements requires updating the act. This bill will increase the efficiency of the scheme for its remaining eight years of operation and assist in finalising outstanding applications. These minor technical amendments will provide clarity and improve scheme operations but will not have any financial impacts on scheme participants and will not change an institution's liability or obligations under the scheme.

The amendments contained in this bill include taking measures to clarify processes or remove potential barriers to the scheme's efficiency. The amendments will clarify how participating institutions that are associates of the responsible institution are to be determined and specified, provide for greater efficiency in engaging independent decision-makers, introduce protections for the names and symbols used in connection with the scheme, and authorise disclosure of protected information about a non-participating institution to remove barriers for institutions to participate in the scheme.

Further changes will also allow for redress payments to be made to a person who has been appointed by a court, tribunal or board to manage the financial affairs of a person entitled to redress. Currently, if a person accepts a redress payment or a counselling and psychological care payment, the scheme operator must pay this to an account that the person holds with a financial institution and that the person has nominated in writing. In not allowing payments to be made to third parties, we've seen unintended consequences, especially where an applicant has limited capacity to manage their financial affairs or where relevant court or tribunal orders exist. This amendment will enable the scheme to pay an applicant's redress payment to a public trustee or similar body with financial management powers made under relevant laws. The amendments will ensure the scheme can make a redress payment for an applicant, while also ensuring that their interests remain protected in a way that is consistent with the legal arrangements in this place.

Clearly, the focus here is on making the scheme as efficient and straightforward as possible. Many survivors of child sexual abuse have a complex range of mental health issues as a result of their trauma. The last thing that they want is to navigate a complex or cumbersome bureaucratic system designed to address this very trauma.

These amendments will not impact how survivors deal with the scheme, and nor do they have financial impacts for scheme participants. In fact, these amendments will better support survivors taking part in the scheme, by enhancing operational efficiency. We must continue to enhance the way this scheme operates to maintain its integrity and efficiency. Our government will continue to do the work to ensure improvement for this important scheme to better support survivors.

I'd like to acknowledge the very important work of Australian of the Year Grace Tame, whose bravery and advocacy for survivors of child sexual abuse is changing the national conversation on this issue. So I'd like to end by commending her on her incredible work, and I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

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