Prior payments and historical child abuse

In 1999, the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions was tabled in the Queensland Parliament (The Forde Inquiry) which found significant evidence of abuse and neglect of children in Queensland institutions in the past and identified ongoing concerns about current practices in relation to child protection and youth detention. A Redress Scheme was established in 2007 to make payments of between $7,000.00 and $40,000.00 to people who had experienced abuse and negligent as children in Queensland institutions (covered by the Forde Inquiry) to acknowledge the impact of past abuse and neglect.

In 2012, The Family and Community Development Committee was requested to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament of Victoria on the processes by which religious and other non-government organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by personnel within their organisations. The Committee released its report, “Betrayal of Trust.”

With each inquiry, we have seen recommendations either fully or partially implemented.

The Catholic Church introduced its internal Towards Healing scheme in Australia in 1996 which was designed to receive and respond to complaints from survivors. This process was investigated by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which found many survivors had an unsatisfactory experience, finding the process defensive, evasive, and far from an ‘independent’ process.

Survivors have directly approached institutions and participated in restorative justice sessions, internal complaint pathways, and have received prior payments for pain and suffering, and funding for counselling.