Senator Dean Smith, Chair of the Joint Select Committee on the Implementation of the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Redress Scheme, tabled the Committee’s Second Interim Report today.
The Second Interim Report builds on the Committee’s earlier findings and highlights the need for continued reform of the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Redress Scheme (NRS) to ensure no further harm is done to survivors of institutional child sex abuse.
The Second Interim Report makes 21 recommendations reflecting widely expressed concerns by stakeholders, including survivors, redress support services, advocates, the Department of Social Services and the Independent Reviewer, Ms Robyn Kruk AO.
The Second Interim Report recommends that the NRS acts immediately to ensure every aspect, including community education material, is culturally informed and accessible to people with a disability and care leavers.
Critically, the Committee recommends that key operational aspects of the NRS, including eligibility limitations, the assessment framework, the application of indexation, application review processes, direct personal responses, funder of last resort limitations, and the current cap on payments, be reconsidered to ensure procedural fairness.
The Committee has also recommended that more be done to prevent the exploitation of survivors by some law firms and survivor advocacy businesses through legal reform.
The Committee urges all named institutions and governments to work together to continue NRS reform.
The Committee sincerely appreciates the contributions made by survivors to the inquiry.
We believe you.
