National Redress Scheme overview 003-18050700

The National Redress Scheme (the Scheme) was established in response to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Scheme is an Australian Government program that provides support to people who were sexually abused as children while in the care of an institution. The Scheme will run for 10 years until 30 June 2028, however, will only accept applications until 30 June 2027.

The Department of Social Services (DSS) administers the National Redress Scheme with support from Services Australia.

An institution is considered an entity that provides, or has at any time provided, activities, facilities, programs or services of any kind that provide the means through which adults have contact with children.

It is one way the government is working to acknowledge and help people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.

People can contact the dedicated phone service at National Redress Scheme.

A person can apply to the National Redress Scheme if:

• they experienced sexual abuse when they were a child (under 18 years of age), and
• the abuse happened before 1 July 2018, and
• an institution was responsible for bringing them into contact with the person who abused them, and
• they were born before 30 June 2010, and
• they are an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of application (some exceptions apply to certain former child migrants)

The National Redress Scheme can help eligible people to access:

• counselling and psychological services,
• a redress payment, and
• a direct personal response from an institution (for example, an apology)

If an offer of redress is made, a person can accept any or all of the 3 redress components listed above.

Redress is not compensation. It is about acknowledging the harm done and supporting people to move forward positively in the way that is best for them.

Redress payments are non-taxable and protected from Commonwealth debt recovery processes:

• payments are exempt from the Social Security, Veterans’ Entitlements and Aged Care income tests
• from 1 January 2025, payment/s are an exempt asset for people in residential aged care (aged care asset test), but
• any ongoing income generated by redress payment/s are assessable under the Social Security and Veterans’ entitlements and Aged Care income and assets tests, and
• any asset produced from the payment/s are counted under the Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements assets test

All state and territory governments, as well as the Commonwealth, have joined the Scheme. Legislation is in place in all states and territories to enable non-government institutions to join the Scheme.

Many non-government institutions have joined or have committed to joining the Scheme.

The National Redress Scheme website lists all institutions that:

• have joined
• are taking steps to join
• have refused to join

See the Resources page for a link to the National Redress Scheme website.

For non-government institutions, the process of joining the Scheme includes several steps. This means that there may be a delay between the time that an institution announces it will join the Scheme and the time that applications relating to those institutions can be processed. The Scheme is working very closely with institutions to help this process happen as quickly as possible.

DSS is responsible for legislation and policy relating to the Scheme, selection of the Independent Decision Makers (IDM) and all decisions relating to applications to the Scheme.

Since February 2020, DSS holds responsibility for undertaking service delivery for the Scheme with support from Services Australia.

The primary roles in the service delivery, administration and decision making processes are:

• Service Officers in Services Australia service centres:
• refer Scheme applicants to a Service Centre Redress Contact
• help with Identity Confirmation when the person does not tell the Agency they are attending in relation to the Scheme
• Service Centre Redress Contacts in Services Australia service centres:
• help with Identity Confirmation and document lodgement
• provide general information on the Scheme
• DSS Redress Officers:
• are the telephony contact point for people making enquiries and applicants during the application process. This team supports applicants in the application process by answering questions relating to applications and accessing further assistance from specialist areas of Redress to support applicants
• validate applications and collate information (including information from institutions) to forward to an Independent Decision Maker (IDM). DSS Redress Officers notify applicants of the final outcome when it is returned from the IDM
• IDM - appointed by DSS. IDMs:
• consider all information and make a final decision about the application
• refer the decision back to the DSS Redress Officer
• undertake a review of an application

Note: DSS Redress Officers notify the applicant, process the outcome, including letters and payments

A person can only make one application for redress.

A person can apply for Redress:

• online, via myGov, or
• using the Application for Redress form

The last date an Application for Redress can be submitted is 30 June 2027.

See the Resources page for a link to the National Redress Scheme website, where people can access the Application for Redress and the Redress Application Guidebook. The Guidebook provides more information to help people complete their application.

Assistance completing the application form can be provided by the Scheme, Redress Support Services and/or appointed nominees.

A DSS Redress Officer will:

• acknowledge receipt of an Application for Redress, and
• advise the applicant of the next steps in the process

When the Application for Redress has been received by the Scheme, the applicant:

• will be sent an acknowledgement SMS (if they have consented to receive text messages and have a valid Australian mobile phone number)
• may receive a letter from the Scheme acknowledging receipt of their application

The application is assessed and, once a determination is reached, the applicant and responsible participating institutions are notified of the outcome.

Applicants have a 6 month period to accept their offer of Redress from the date of the offer. An extension can be requested to the acceptance period in exceptional circumstances, either before, at or after the acceptance period end date.

If the applicant:

• does not accept the offer within 6 months, the offer of Redress is taken to be declined. The applicant cannot apply to the Scheme again
• received an advance payment of Redress from the Scheme, they must pay back the advance amount to the Commonwealth if they:
• decline their final offer, or
• withdraw their application before a determination for redress is made

Applicants can request, in writing, an internal review of the original decision within 6 months from the date of the letter of offer. A different Independent Decision Maker (IDM) conducts the internal review.

From April 2024, applicants requesting a review can provide further information to support their request.

After a review decision has been made, the applicant cannot request another review. It is up to the applicant to accept or decline the review decision, noting there are no further options for review.

Note: if a person's acceptance period is extended, the review period is also extended.

If the Scheme receives information about an application after it has been determined but before the offer is accepted, an IDM can revoke the determination. If a revocation is to occur it is for the IDM to consider. Once a revocation occurs, the original decision is revoked and replaced by a new decision.

From 29 September 2024, certain finalised applications may be reassessed.

A reassessment of a finalised application is only available for certain applications. For a person’s finalised application to be reassessed, the following criteria must be met:

• they must have either accepted or declined their redress outcome
• after their application was finalised, one or more non participating institutions named in their application or identified by the Scheme during their application process, have joined the Scheme, and
• the Scheme receives their completed and signed Reassessment Agreement Form on or before 30 June 2027

The Scheme will identify and write to eligible applicants to participate in a reassessment of their finalised application. A reassessment of a finalised application can only start when the Scheme receives the completed and signed Reassessment Agreement Form.

An IDM will undertake the reassessment for redress and the Scheme will notify the decision in writing. The applicant can accept, review or decline their reassessed offer. If declined, the original offer of redress remains in place.

A reassessed redress payment offer cannot be less than what was previously accepted.

Note: a person cannot request a reassessment of their finalised application over the phone.

The Scheme has a different nominee process to other Services Australia programs as it is administered under separate legislation.

See Nominees for the National Redress Scheme.

Identity Confirmation processes for applicants and their nominees are not the same as for customers of Services Australia. See Identity Confirmation for the National Redress Scheme.

Fraudulent applications to the Scheme:

• take advantage of genuine survivors
• undermine the integrity of the Scheme, and
• take resources away from the support of survivors

Some people try to take advantage of the Scheme by:

• submitting applications with false information
• submitting false applications on behalf of others (identity theft)
• attempting to intercept payments to genuine applicants
• exploiting vulnerable applicants

The Safeguarding the Scheme webpage outlines the Scheme’s approach to fraud. It provides information for redress applicants, stakeholders and the general public to:

• understand common fraud types observed by the Scheme, and
• how to protect against these

Services Australia and the National Redress Scheme work closely to prevent fraud.

When servicing individuals relating to the Scheme, remain vigilant for the following red flags:

• frequent failed attempts to complete POI
• frequent changes to myGov account details accompanied by bank detail updates
• suspicious calls, such as querying how to get the highest Redress payment

For staff in myGov roles, keep an eye out for:

• frequent and/or suspicious changes to myGov details, for example, callers applying for the Scheme or require assistance linking the Scheme to myGov
• multiple myGov profiles created to connect to the Scheme

Report any fraudulent activity or suspicious behaviour directed at the Scheme, see the Safeguarding the Scheme webpage for how to report.

The Resources page has a link to the Safeguarding the Scheme webpage.