Applications close on 30 June 2027. You do not need a lawyer to apply — but before you accept an offer, it is worth knowing what accepting it means.
The National Redress Scheme was set up after the Royal Commission for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse. It offers three things: a payment of up to $150,000, access to counselling and psychological support, and a direct personal response from the institution responsible if you want one.
Applications close on 30 June 2027. After that the scheme ends.
According to the Scheme, you can apply if you experienced institutional sexual abuse before turning 18, the abuse happened before 1 July 2018, you were born before 30 June 2010, and you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident when you apply. There is an exception for former child migrants sent to Australia from the United Kingdom or Malta before 1984 who arrived without a parent or guardian and were made a ward of the state.
If you are under 18 but will turn 18 on or before 30 June 2028, you can still apply — though you must be 18 to accept an offer. If you have been sentenced to five years or more in gaol for a single offence, you can still apply, but the application goes through a separate assessment.
The Scheme can be called directly on 1800 737 377, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Three things, and you can accept or decline each one separately: a payment, counselling and psychological care, and a direct personal response from the institution — an apology, or an acknowledgement, in the form you ask for.
Payments are decided case by case and range from under $10,000 to $150,000. They are not taxable, are exempt from Commonwealth debt recovery, are not counted in income tests for payments like the Disability Support Pension, and are protected from creditors in bankruptcy. A redress payment can count towards an assets test.
If an institution has already paid you something for the same abuse, that is deducted from the redress payment, adjusted to today’s value. Money paid for medical, dental or legal expenses is not deducted.
We want to say that plainly, before anything else. Applying is free, and you can do it yourself. knowmore is a free national legal service for survivors, independent of any firm, and they will help you with an application at no cost. Many people use them and never speak to a private lawyer at all.
If what you need is help completing an application, start there. We would rather tell you that than take a fee for something you can get free.
There is one decision in this process that is worth independent advice, and it is the one that cannot be undone.
Accepting a redress offer releases the institution from civil liability. The acceptance document is a prescribed form — it cannot be altered or negotiated — and it releases the responsible institution, its associates and its officials from all civil liability for the abuse covered by the Scheme. The abuser personally is not released. In plain terms: you agree not to bring or continue a civil claim against the institution, and that is permanent.
Redress is capped at $150,000. A civil claim, where one is available to you, can be worth considerably more. The Scheme’s own guidance says you should get legal advice before accepting an offer, and the free legal service it points people to publishes a guide called Civil claim or National Redress Scheme. This is a recognised decision, not an unusual one.
Neither path is better in the abstract, and we are not suggesting you should sue. A civil claim costs money to run, can take years, is public in a way redress is not, and may end with less than redress would have paid — or nothing. Redress is faster, private, capped, and certain. For many people redress is plainly the right choice, and if that is true for you we will say so.
What decides it is your circumstances: what happened, what records survive, whether the institution still exists and can pay, your health, your age, and what a court process would cost you personally as well as financially.
That is the question we help with. Not the form — the decision.
You have time to consider it. Do not sign because the letter looks official or because someone has told you the scheme is closing. Bring the offer to us, or to knowmore, and get it looked at before you accept. Once the deed is signed that path is closed.
You decide what to tell us and when. Nothing proceeds without you, nothing is reported anywhere without your instruction, and everything is covered by legal professional privilege. You can bring someone with you. You can stop at any point.
We do not need the whole story to tell you whether a civil claim is worth investigating. We often need very little.
What it costs. A consultation with us is a fixed fee, told to you before you book it, so there is no surprise. If a civil claim is worth running we will put the likely cost in writing before you decide anything. And if redress is the better path for you, we will say so and point you to knowmore — you do not need to pay us to be told you do not need us, so ring or text first and ask.
No. Applying is free, and knowmore provides free independent legal advice to survivors. You do not need a private lawyer to apply.
You sign a deed of release, which permanently gives up your right to sue the institution over that abuse. That is why it is worth getting independent advice before accepting, particularly if a civil claim may be available to you.
Applications close on 30 June 2027.
Yes — $150,000. Payments range from under $10,000 up to that maximum, decided case by case. Payments are not taxable and are not counted in income tests for Commonwealth payments.
Broadly: you experienced institutional sexual abuse before turning 18, the abuse happened before 1 July 2018, you were born before 30 June 2010, and you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident when you apply. Exceptions apply for some former child migrants. The Scheme can confirm your position on 1800 737 377.
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