Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse laid bare a shocking history of betrayal and abuse of innocent children by adults working in the very institutions that were entrusted with their safety and innocence. Over five years, the commissioners comprehensively examined large volumes of evidence, from some 57 public hearings, at which 1,200 witnesses appeared over 400 days, over 25,000 items of correspondence and more than 8,000 private sessions. Indeed, many of those were conducted in my home town of Newcastle.

The National Redress Scheme was the primary outcome of this royal commission. It told survivors of institutional child sexual abuse that they were believed, that what happened to them was never okay and that they deserved the full respect of and a proper response from our community, our legal institutions and our political parliaments. The NRS, the National Redress Scheme, is holding institutions to account for having failed to protect those that were in their care.

Victims and survivors from Newcastle and the Hunter region spent a lot of time agitating for the royal commission to take hearings in Newcastle. Sadly, there were two entire volumes dedicated to the abuse that took place in my region. My community knows firsthand the ongoing impacts that that abuse has had on not just survivors but their families and the whole community. Victims-survivors are not just traumatised by the abuse. They're traumatised by the stigma and by the historical disbelief and the turning of a blind eye to—or, indeed, deliberate cover-ups of—the shocking crimes against children.

In just under six years of the National Redress Scheme being in place, over 40,000 applications have been received from across Australia. Of those, there have been 16,000 applications with outcomes, including over $137 billion in payments that have been issued to survivors. This has gone some way to addressing survivors' trauma by recognising that it happened and that it was never, ever okay.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to a timely, trauma-informed and accessible National Redress Scheme that supports survivors. That's why this government, for a third time, has provided additional resourcing to support the scheme in this year's budget. We have committed $33.3 million for new and expanded services for National Redress Scheme applicants, including $26.1 million over four years for some new targeted support services. This expanded service will assist survivors to submit applications to the scheme, which will improve the completion of applications and cut down on the processing times, meaning quicker outcomes for the applicants.

We'll also be investing $7.2 million towards boosting free legal services and support for survivors as they navigate applications for redress. It makes sense that we help people navigate their way through this difficult application process, and it's great to see this budget initiative. This package recognises that for survivors accessing the scheme it can mean revisiting the trauma that they hold from their abuse. Some people may need help, and, for those who need it now, they'll be given help, including a further $2.16 million for targeted support for incarcerated survivors and those requiring culturally safe support services, particularly for regional and remote applicants. This government is ensuring that no survivor of institutional child sexual abuse is locked out of accessing the scheme, if they wish to access it, no matter what their barrier.

This is the third budget that we have provided additional support to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. We know that this job is by no means done, but it is a commitment from this government that we will always seek to improve the scheme and the support for survivors. Minister, how important is it that we continue to recognise and support survivors of institutional child sexual abuse through boosting resourcing for the National Redress Scheme?

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