Redress and Civil Litigation


The Royal Commission released the Redress and Civil Litigation report (the R&CL Report) in September 2015. The R&CL Report contains recommendations in relation to the provision of effective redress for survivors through the establishment, funding and operation of a single national redress scheme and the provision of a direct personal response to survivors by institutions. This report also contains recommendations for reforms to civil litigation systems to make civil litigation a more effective means of providing justice for survivors.

Redress

In response to these recommendations, the Commonwealth Government has established a National Redress Scheme, which began operating in 2018. . The Commonwealth Government’s intention is that all government and private institutions will opt-in and participate in the scheme to provide national coverage.

The Scheme provides three element of redress: a monetary payment, access to psychological counselling, and a direct personal response – such as an apology from the responsible institution for people who request it.

On 19 March 2018, the ACT Government announced it would join the Scheme. Along with NSW and Victoria, the ACT was one of the first jurisdictions to opt into the Scheme, demonstrating the ACT Government’s commitment to implementing the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission.

The ACT Government has worked closely with the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions to develop the framework and processes required to implement the Scheme, including the National Bill, Rules and Intergovernmental Agreement.

The ACT Government has consistently advocated for the spirit and intent of the Royal Commission recommendations to be implemented. The ACT Government has also begun setting up internal structures within ACT Institutions to deliver survivor focused redress to ACT survivors throughout the life of the scheme.

For up to date ACT Government information on the National Redress Scheme

Civil litigation

The R&CL Report also made recommendations about:

In August 2016, the ACT Government passed amendments to remove limitation periods for civil actions on child sexual abuse in an institutional context. In May 2017, the ACT Government expanded those laws to apply to all claims for compensation in response to abuse. These reforms implemented the recommendations about limitation periods in full, in line with the recommendation to prioritise these reforms ahead of the recommendations about duty of institutions and identifying a proper defendant.

The ACT Government completed the majority of recommendations relating to redress and civil litigation, as a result of the joining the National Redress Scheme from 1 July 2018.

In August 2018, the Civil Law (Wrongs) (Child Abuse Claims Against Unincorporated Bodies) Amendment Act 2018 amended the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 to implement recommendation 94 made by the Royal Commission in its R&CL Report. This ended the ability to use the ‘Ellis defence’ to ensure survivors are able to take civil action against institutions, regardless of the legal structure of the institution.

New laws that came into effect on 1 September 2019 have made a number of changes to laws about reporting child abuse, including:

Certain information disclosed in a religious confession must be reported by religious bodies to the ACT Ombudsman under the Reportable Conduct Scheme

For additional information please see the timeline here