Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the National Redress Scheme, which was established in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, has been operating since July 2018,

(ii) as of November last year, 2,335 survivors have made applications to the National Redress Scheme, but only 28 have received compensation,

(iii) the primary reason for this delay is due to institutions that are responsible for child sexual abuse not opting into the Scheme or staggering their entry into the Scheme, and

(iv) the National Redress Scheme was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2015, and institutions have had sufficient time to prepare for their entry into the Scheme; and

(b) calls on the Minister for Families and Social Services to:

(i) continue encouraging all institutions within states and territories which are currently signed on to the National Redress Scheme, to opt in,

(ii) seek a timeframe from institutions that have publically stated their intention to join the Scheme as to when they will start fully participating in the Scheme, and

(iii) make this timeframe publically available so that survivors, many of whom are elderly or ill, can have some clarity about when they will receive the redress that is owed to them.

I seek leave to make a short statement.