House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by the authority of the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Dan Tehan MP)

OUTLINE

National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Bill 2018

The Bill establishes the National Redress Scheme for Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (the Scheme). The Scheme will commence in accordance with clause 2 of the Bill and will operate for a period of 10 years.

The Scheme will recognise and alleviate the impact of past child sexual abuse that occurred in an institutional context by providing three elements of redress to eligible survivors. Redress under the Scheme consists of a monetary payment of up to $150,000 as a tangible means of recognising the wrong survivors have suffered, access to counselling and psychological services (either through a lump sum payment or through state or territory based services) and the option to receive a direct personal response from a responsible institution(s).

The Bill sets out the objects and principles under which the Scheme will operate, including the requirements for a participating government institution (that is, Commonwealth institutions, State institutions, and Territory institutions) and any participating non-government institution that agrees to participate in the Scheme.

A person will be eligible for redress under the Scheme if the person was sexually abused as a child prior to 1 July 2018, the abuse occurred inside a participating state, inside a territory, or outside Australia, one or more participating institutions are responsible for the abuse, and the person is an Australian citizen or a permanent resident at the time of their application.

If the Scheme establishes that a person suffered sexual abuse, any related non-sexual abuse will also be taken into consideration for the purpose of determining the amount of the redress payment that the person is entitled to receive.

Applicants can only make one claim under the Scheme. A person who accepts an offer of redress will be required to release a responsible participating institution(s) from liability for sexual abuse and related non-sexual abuse that is within scope of the Scheme. A person will also be required to release associates of the responsible institution(s) and institutional officials (other than an abuser of the person).

The Scheme administration cost (Scheme administration component) will be based on a proportionate share of the total amount of redress paid to each person, and is payable by participating institutions.

A review of the operation of the Scheme will commence as soon as possible after the second and eighth anniversaries of the start of the Scheme.

National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2018

This Bill provides for consequential amendments to be made to Commonwealth legislation for the purpose of the new Scheme.

Amendments to the Social Security Act 1991 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 will ensure the payments are not income tested, and so will not reduce the income support payments of survivors as a consequence of receiving a payment under the Scheme.

In addition, amendments are to be made to the Bankruptcy Act 1966 to ensure payments are quarantined from the divisible property of a bankrupt person. These amendments have been included to ensure a survivor will receive the full benefit of their redress payment, and to ensure that the receipt of the redress payment does not adversely affect a survivor.

This Bill will also exempt decisions made under the Scheme from judicial review under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. This amendment will ensure the Scheme remains survivor focused and trauma informed by maintaining the principles that the Scheme be a low threshold and non-legalistic process for survivors who have already suffered so much. These amendments are essential to implement the Scheme's policies and to ensure timely and appropriate decision making.

The Bill will also include an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This amendment will ensure that 'protected information' would not be required to be disclosed under that Act. This exemption supports the trauma informed approach of the Scheme, ensuring that survivors' information is adequately protected. It also protects institutions' information to protect against fraudulent applications being made to the Scheme. The exemption protects the integrity of the operation of the National Redress Scheme, removes any uncertainty about the operation of the information publication scheme in relation to the assessment framework policy guidelines, and makes it transparent that protected information under the National Redress Scheme is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The Bill will amend Schedule 1 of the Age Discrimination Act 2004 to allow the exclusion of children applying to the Scheme if they will not turn 18 throughout the life of the Scheme. Applying an age limit to the Scheme addresses the risk of children signing away their future civil rights when they may have limited capacity to understand the implications, and when the impact of the abuse may not fully be realised.

Financial impact statement

The Australian Government committed $33.4 million in the 2017-18 Budget to establish the Scheme. The ongoing costs of the Scheme were accounted for in the 2017-18 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. $54.7 million was reported over the forward estimates, including funding for Redress Support Services. The remaining funding was not for publication due to legal sensitivities. The Scheme's funding arrangements will be made available after commencement through normal reporting mechanisms.

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

The statement of compatibility with human rights appears at the end of this explanatory memorandum.