Wednesday 23 July 2025

Speakers:

Lucy Knight, Director Governance and Community Engagement, National Redress Scheme, Department of Social Services

Linda Wiseham, Manager and Specialist Advocate for Redress, People With Disability Australia

Facilitator:

Michelle Howe, Senior Consultant, Fenton Communications

Topics: overview of the National Redress Scheme, applying for redress, outcomes available, support for people with disability, application process and length of time, barriers for people applying for redress, records and information required, legal assistance, appealing a decision, reporting abuse. 

Michelle Howe: My name is Michelle Howe, and I am a senior consultant with Fenton Communications. I am a fair-skinned woman with long brown hair, wearing green-framed glasses and a dark blue top today. I am coming to you from Meanjin land, and I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Australia. I pay respects to Elders past and present and to all Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people with disability. I'll now share some important accessibility and technical tips so everyone can get the most out of the event today. As you can see, we have an Auslan Interpreter available, and live captions are available. If you want to view those captions, just press the CC icon in your Zoom toolbar. Thanks to everyone in the audience today who submitted questions when you registered to attend. We have used those questions to develop the questions I will ask our speakers today. Also, just to let you know, we are going through a lot of information today, so our speakers have notes that they may refer to. I just wanted to let you know we are not using the chat function for audience questions today, but our technical team will be posting information in the chat, and that includes contact details for the National Redress Scheme and organisations you can access if you need support. You can also see these now on your screens. As we only have one hour today, I will now welcome our speakers and ask them to introduce themselves. Firstly, we are joined by Lucy Knight from the Department of Social Services. Thank you, Lucy.

Lucy Knight: Hello, my name is Lucy Knight. A visual description: I am a fair-skinned woman with a big blonde fringe and usually have some big colourful earrings on today, and blue framed glasses. My earrings, if you can see, are big pink flowers, and that's my choice for today. I work for the Department of Social Services in the National Redress Scheme and I am the director of our Governance and Community Engagement section for the Scheme, and I am coming to you from Ngunnawal land. I am excited to be here and thankful that you are joining us today. I am passionate about connecting people in communities, particularly around the support we can provide with the National Redress Scheme. I wanted to acknowledge that I am a person living with a disability as well.

Michelle Howe: Thanks, Lucy. We are also joined today by Linda Wiseham from People With Disability Australia. Linda will now introduce herself.

Linda Wiseham: Hi, my name is Linda Wiseham. My pronouns are she/her, and I am joining you today from Dharawal country. I'd like to pay respects to Elders past and present and to the survivors in the room, and acknowledge the steps it takes to take those steps forward to redress. I have short hair, dyed pink in the back, and pink glasses. Today I am wearing a shirt with big blobs of pink, green and orange. I am also a person with lived experience of disability. I am the manager and specialist advocate for the redress team at People With Disability Australia, and we often refer to ourselves as PWDA because it can be a bit of a mouthful. I have worked in redress for over 5 years and have been with PWDA for nearly 7 years. I am deeply passionate about ensuring that people with disability receive clear information and have genuine accessibility to that information and the ability to navigate the National Redress Scheme. Thanks.

Michelle Howe: Thanks, it is really great to see you and Lucy in the webinar today. We'll start again by hearing from Lucy, and she will give an overview and update on the National Redress Scheme. After that, we'll go through some of the questions and answers that you submitted when you registered. First, I will hand back to Lucy. Thanks, Lucy.

Lucy Knight: Thanks, Michelle. As you mentioned in the beginning, I am referring to notes. This is a really important topic for us to be talking through today, and I want to make sure that I don't forget anything as I go through, so please excuse me. Let's talk about the Scheme. The National Redress Scheme is here to help people who have experienced institutional-based child sexual abuse, providing access to counselling, a Direct Personal Response, and a redress payment. I'll talk more about those as we progress through the webinar. The purpose of the Scheme is to acknowledge that this abuse occurred and to hold Australian institutions accountable for the sexual abuse of children who were in their care. We commenced in July 2018, and as of 4 July this year, we have received over 64,000 applications, and that’s a significant number. 34% of those applications indicate they are people with a disability, and we know that people with disability are at higher risk of experiencing violence and abuse, including sexual abuse and sexual abuse as a child. People with disability are therefore a key focus for the department and the National Redress Scheme. One of the things we do know though, is there are significant barriers that can be faced by people with disability when they are wanting to access the Scheme, and they might find it hard to either disclose or report their experiences. This is where we talk to, and really appreciate the roles of family members, support people and workers, the broader disability sector, and the critical role you can play in supporting people with disability overcome these barriers. The webinar today is one of the steps we're taking in the Scheme to help support and raise awareness of the Scheme, to raise awareness and increase accessibility so that people with disability and the support services available have access and can look at what their own redress journey may be. We are committed to ensuring as many people as possible who may be entitled to redress have the ability to apply before the Scheme applications finish in June 2027. So it’s July 2025, we’re only open to receive applications to June 2027.Thank you again for your attendance and support today, especially to Linda and PWDA for hosting this event on our behalf. PWDA is one of the Redress Support Services and one of the amazing services we provide is the ability to support applicants through the redress journey with the National Redress Scheme. Thanks, Michelle back to you.

Michelle Howe: Thanks, Lucy, that was a wonderful overview and important scene setting. Now we'll start going through some of the questions that we received from the audience when they registered for today's event. Again, thanks for submitting those questions. Lucy, I'll start with you again: can you tell us in what situations people apply to the Scheme?

Lucy Knight: The Scheme focuses on sexual abuse when you are a child at an institution. I'll talk through what that means. First, an institution could be a school, church, mission, orphanage, foster care, hospital, detention centre, sporting club, or any sort of club. The sexual abuse could have happened at the institution itself or be associated with an activity of the institution, such as swimming lessons. There are a few criteria for someone to be eligible for redress, which I'll outline. A person may be eligible if they experienced sexual abuse when they were under the age of 18, were born before the 30th of June 2010, the abuse happened before the 1st of July 2018 while they were at an institution, and they were an Australian citizen or permanent resident when applying to the Scheme. As a support person, worker, or legal nominee, you play an important role in helping people decide whether to apply. A person with a disability may seek help understanding the Scheme and meeting application process requirements, such as filling out the application form. I mentioned before, the Redress Support Services like PWDA, which can provide practical and emotional support to people with disabilities and their support people before, during, and after applying for the Scheme. It's about the entire journey for a person applying. If you or someone you know wishes to apply for the Scheme, you'll need to fill out and submit an application form before the 30th of June 2027. That's a summary of our eligibility criteria. Michelle, back to you.

Michelle Howe: I might just stick with you, Lucy, for now. I'm just wondering, on the back of that information, if you can explain what people are actually applying for when they apply for redress? What outcomes might be available to them?

Lucy Knight: Absolutely, that's a really good question. There are 3 outcomes of redress a person can be eligible for. I'll walk through what those are, but it's important to know that a person eligible for redress can accept all 3, 1 or 2, or none. So it is up to the person applying when an offer of redress is made, their choice is in their hands on what they'd like to do with that outcome. The first component of redress is a monetary component. This payment amount is calculated on the individual's experience of the sexual abuse. So it is based on what's provided in the application form, and supporting material provided with the application form, and it also looks at the impact and the person's vulnerability at the time of the abuse. This payment can be up to $150,000 it can be less than that amount, based on the individual circumstances. In some circumstances, there may be an opportunity for an advance payment. That’s not in all circumstances and there are particular requirements we’d look at for that and the Scheme would invite you to apply if eligible. When it comes to the redress amount, it can be paid as a lump sum or in instalments. That's important to consider when deciding how you might want to receive that amount of money.

The second component of redress is a Direct Personal Response, and from my perspective, one of the most critical parts of the redress journey. A Direct Personal Response involves an acknowledgment or apology from the institution found responsible, and could be a formal apology, a letter, a face-to-face meeting, or a virtual meeting. Some applicants meet with officials from the institution to share their experiences and share the impact of sexual abuse as a child had on their life and their family. People may ask for apologies or inquire about what institutions are doing now to keep children safe. It's a personal process, and the Scheme will support and facilitate this with you.

The third component is access to counselling and psychological care, provided through state and territory governments. This partnership with the Australian Government allows applicants to access counselling services by experts in childhood sexual abuse support. It includes a minimum of 20 hours of counselling, usable over the person's lifetime. For more details on the 3 elements of redress, visit the National Redress Scheme website.

Michelle Howe: Thanks, Lucy. I will just add that on the National Redress Scheme website, there are also some wonderful case studies where you can hear people talking about the application process and the journey they went through to receive redress, including some people talking about the importance and the impact of the Direct Personal Response that Lucy mentioned. But it would be great now to bring you in, Linda. So I just wondered if you could tell us about the type of support that you, personally and your organisation, PWDA provide to people with a disability when they apply to the Scheme? Thanks, Linda.

Linda Wiseham: Thanks, Michelle. PWDA has a redress team that is specifically working with individuals who want to apply for redress. We are all very trauma-informed, having done a lot of trauma training. We've also done a lot of work within the disability sector and have that understanding of people's needs and how we can work with people with disability. Our Redress Support Services provide personal, one-on-one assistance throughout the application process. We help people write those applications so they don't have to write them at all. We go through that journey with them, ensuring the application is exactly how they want it to be, then send it off to the Scheme. We support people with all forms of disability, including mental health. A lot of times, people aren't sure whether a disability service will work specifically with those with psychosocial disability, but we do. We help them access the Scheme and referrals to other services if needed. Our service does not impact anyone's NDIS or disability support pension. We are a fully funded, free service. We do not require evidence of a person's disability – if you tell us you have a disability, we will believe you.

Some examples of the support we provide include simplifying complex language. Often, applications can be quite lengthy and ask things that people aren't sure about, so we assist with that. We help clients articulate their story in a way that the Scheme is looking for, ensuring details that should be included are mentioned. We ask trauma-informed questions to get the best story. We offer accessible formats and communication supports, like easy reads, visual tools, and plain language explanations. We also collaborate with other services, such as mental health professionals, to ensure a person's mental health is supported throughout the process, as it can be triggering and traumatic. We work with other disability specialists to offer emotional and cognitive support if needed and with Auslan Interpreters and assistive devices. We do outreach to rural and remote communities to assist face to face if necessary, though most of our work is online. We try to ensure flexibility and maintain dignity throughout our engagement with each person.

Michelle Howe: I will just bring you back in Lucy. Can you tell us a bit more about that application process, including we had quite a few questions coming through from people who registered about generally how long it will take?

Lucy Knight: Thanks Michelle, absolutely. Linda, you made a comment about treating people with dignity, and I love that. I’ll just acknowledge that. It’s the most central thing. It is a difficult process, there are no ifs or buts about it, it is difficult and maintaining a person's dignity is really key to how we go through. On that note, there’s are three main types of information we are going to need. It is going to sound simple, it is not. First is personal information, so we are going to need to know who you are, how we contact you, if you do have a Centrelink reference number that can be provided to us, we can use that to help establish your identification and a whole range of things like that. So everything up-front is all about who you are, so we know who the application relates to and what that means.

The second bit of information is where it gets a little bit more difficult. We are going to need to know about the abuse experienced by the person applying to the Scheme. We want to know as much detail as you are able to, and I want to acknowledge that particularly when you go through traumatic events, memory is not reliable and it is very difficult, so we ask you to do the best that you can and provide information in the best way that you are able to do so. We would like as much information as available to you that you can provide about the institution where the abuse occurred and how that impacted the person as they are applying. We have had things provided, for example school photos, whole range of things. We have pictures of an institution, anything like that that the person might have access to would be worthwhile. I do want to say if you are feeling the need to go and get further information to support your application, talk to your Redress Support Service in doing that, talk to people around that, and they can work through what would be beneficial and what wouldn't be beneficial.

The last thing that we need with our application forms is a signature and a date. Again that speaks to who you are, and that you are agreeing to your information being provided to the Scheme and that we know that what you've signed is true and correct through the process as well. I mentioned it is difficult, it is. That's again our how Redress Support Services are available and our support people and applicants and family members if they are willing to share that information are available to support the applicant person going through that process. I think I do want to go back, if you have information available, if the person has information available, provide it, but if they don't that should not prevent a person applying to the Scheme. As much as you have or as much as the person has is appropriate and enough for an application to be lodged with us.

I have touched on getting help and we have talked about the specialist Redress Support Services and PWDA is definitely one of our specialist support services. Our website, the National Redress Scheme website, has a full list of all of the Redress Support Services available across the country. Some provide services to a location, some provide them nationally, some provide them to men, some provide them to women, so there is a whole different range of services to go through. The reason why these support services have been chosen is because they specialise in the particular support needed for people who are applying and working through this process. They have a deep understanding of the Scheme itself and they work closely with us in facilitating access to the Scheme and it is really important that we do that. They also make sure that we have safe and culturally appropriate support for anyone interested in applying for the Scheme.

I also wanted to acknowledge that anyone - so anyone, an applicant or a person who is thinking about applying for the Scheme can ask anyone to support them, and as a disability support worker that could be a role that you may be asked to play or you may identify someone that you think may benefit from applying for the Scheme and you are welcome to do so. The Scheme has a process that's called redress nominee where you can nominate or the person applying to the Scheme can nominate either an assistance nominee or a legal nominee to act on their behalf of the Scheme. So there is a difference between an assistance nominee and a legal nominee and that depends on the decision powers that the applicant is choosing to provide to the nominee as they go through, and as a minimum will help with receiving correspondence, can make phone calls and contacts through the Scheme. I do want to point out that if an applicant chooses, a Redress Support Service can be a nominee, as well as supporting them through the nomination application process too. Just a little bit more from the legal nominee, one of the main differences with a legal nominee is they can actually make a decision on behalf of the applicant if the applicant agrees for that person to be a legal nominee.

I think that's all I want to touch on from a nominee perspective, but I do want to talk about access a little bit broader. When contacting the Scheme, we do have access to interpreters, translating services, and interpreters including Auslan as well. So if you require assistance with interpreters and you are accessing the Scheme or doing so on someone's behalf, you can request appointments with interpreters and we can facilitate that on your behalf. I want to acknowledge that applications can be lodged on paper, so we have paper application forms, but applicants can choose to link their MyGov accounts to National Redress Scheme through MyGov and lodge an electronic application and, depending on how the applicant works with their support person, they may be able to assist them with the electronic application process that goes through as well. I might, if it is okay, I will touch on what happens after you lodge your application and what that means as we go through.

You mentioned, Michelle, the question around processing timeframes, they are long. I need to tell you that upfront and I'll talk a little bit about that. We'll go through, so when an application that comes into the Scheme, the first thing we do is we check we have everything we need. This is a difficult process and we don't want to have to ask for more information than what we need, so we do a really good check up front to make sure we have covered off all the personal information, we know who the applicant is, we have got enough details around the events abuse that occurred, you can identify the institution, everything is signed and those sort of things. If further information is needed because we might not have enough up-front, we might send a letter to an applicant and ask for some further information. That information will then be provided and be part of the application process as it goes through.

I should mention an institution doesn't need to be already participating with the Scheme for a person to apply. So we ask you to tell us about the institution. If the institution has already joined the Scheme and there is a list on our website of participating institutions, there is nothing further that needs to happen. If the institution is not participating in the Scheme, we will then work with the institution to have them participate on your behalf. So there is no action that you need to take, but I do want to acknowledge that if they are not currently participating it might take a little bit more time to get them on board, so we can then look at assessing your application as it goes through. Once we have everything that we need for the application, it goes through to an Independent Decision- Maker. Now, an Independent Decision- Maker is independent, uses all the information you've provided in the application and any other supplementary information that we have available, to make a determination on your redress. So that determination is going to consider whether or not you meet the eligibility requirements for the Scheme, but also make a decision on an institution's responsibility in that process and that's how we get to make an offer of redress after those determinations have been made.

We've got on our website, the average time for processing an application sits between 12 and 18 months. So I will say that again, it is between 12 and 18 months. I do want to highlight it is an average. Some happen quicker. But there are also some that don't happen in that timeframe, and do take longer. There is a number of circumstances that will impact the application processing time, but I think the message I want to give is it is a complex process, it is a complex decision we are wanting to make and we want to make sure we have all the information available to make those decisions. I do want to highlight that as a Scheme we are doing everything we can to reduce those processing times, but they are long and I just wanted to acknowledge that. I think that pretty much covers everything that I wanted to say. Michelle, I might go back to you.

Michelle Howe: Sure, great, thank you Lucy. Just reiterating what Lucy said, there was a lot of detail. Just a reminder that all of that information is available on the National Redress Scheme website, and that website address has been popped in the chat. It is nationalredress.gov.au, and I will read out the Scheme phone number, which we'll provide in the chat as well. It is 1800 737 377. I will move on to our next question, and it would be really great to bring you back in, Linda, here. So we've heard a bit so far today about when, why, and how people can apply for redress. But I'd just like it if you could expand a bit on anything that you've seen in your work that may present a barrier to people with disability accessing the Scheme and how your work helps overcome that or address those barriers.

Linda Wiseham: Thanks, Michelle. Look, I think firstly, I'd like to acknowledge that many people with disability who have told their story have been disbelieved or dismissed, sometimes even mistreated by people they've confided in. They've sometimes been turned away by lawyers because they are not a witness that they think could be used in a civil case. So it is really tough for people with disability to be able to come forward to a redress service or ask somebody to help them with this, because they probably feel like that might happen to them again. Because it can cause really long-lasting trauma and contribute to the formal processes. I'd really like to acknowledge that and just make it really clear that Redress Support Services, not just ours but all of them, have been very much trained in this because we've seen and heard it a lot. We will work with a person in a way that will make them more comfortable to be able to share their story and feel like they are believed. We work really hard to build trust and respectful relationships with people. We try to provide consistent trauma-informed, person-centred work with them throughout the process, and answer any questions in a way that they understand. If they don't understand, we ask them about that and try to find a way for them to understand what we are trying to tell them.

I think one of the biggest barriers that we come across for people with disability is the lack of awareness of the Scheme. That's a really big thing because it can impact a person actually knowing that they can apply to the Scheme. They might not have any idea about the Scheme. So we have trouble engaging with a lot of disability services to be able to raise awareness of the Scheme and educate both clients and staff of those services. Some instances of services might be a responsible institution, so that makes them feel like it can further complicate our efforts to engage with them because they are probably wondering, ‘Why are you coming to us? What's happening here? Should we be speaking to you?’ And we kind of have to let them know, this is the process, and this is how we are doing it, and build rapport to get the information through so that the clients and staff know that the Scheme is there. We have done this a lot by actively engaging in community outreach. We have also done education sessions, and with DSS, we have provided quite a lot of targeted workshops across the country in all different States. The aim is to provide very clear information and ensure that information is accessible. I'd like to highlight that here because for people with disability, there might be a lot of information roaming around, but is that accessible to them? So we try to work with people to find out what accessibility needs they have and ensure that they have them catered to. We also try to ensure that people are aware of their rights, their eligibility, and also support them through the whole application process from beginning to end. 

We've also had some challenges working in rural and remote communities. So PWDA make a really big effort to go to these communities. We believe that just because you are in a small town, you still have the right to know that this Scheme is there. There may be two people in that town; who knows? If we don't go out there and speak to people, then they might not have ever known or heard of it. We do a lot of outreach and engagements. We travel a lot of distances and find that some of the barriers for people are that they have to travel a lot of distances. They have local advocates that can help them, or they might even have poor digital connectivity, so access to the redress website, for example, if they don't have a computer and they struggle to see that website on their phone and try to locate information on their phone, or even if they are older and they don't use the Internet at all. So we try to get that information out there and get a lot of paper information out there as well for that accessibility for people also. Many Redress Support Services deliver a lot of educational presentations via online platforms as well. We will also engage interpreters when necessary for people. We do this to, once again raise awareness, build trust, and provide accessible information. 

Some complex support needs and accessibility barriers that we come across. Many applicants with disability have experienced disrupted or limited access to education. We find that a lot from people who have been in the foster care system, for example, or even in institutional care for their childhood and juvenile justice and so on and so forth, a lot of disability homes, that sort of thing; we come across a lot of clients who have difficulty with their memory, their comprehension, communication, being unable to communicate what actually happened to them, and sometimes even processing that information that we are giving them. So that can – all of that can impact on their ability to read the application and be able to write in the application and understand what that application process is asking from them. The process, I want to make this one really, really clear, the process of re-telling your story can be quite distressing. Like you are sharing things with a person that you don't know and these are your deepest, private things. So trying to do that on your own can sometimes be even harder. So that's why we suggest speaking to somebody who has had that training and can give you that trauma support and be able to assist you to do that application. The application – and I will just say it to you straight – is very long. If you have multiple institutions, it becomes longer, and if there are multiple people involved, it becomes longer again. So once again, we will do all of that for you. Sometimes there are barriers for people engaging independently with the National Redress Scheme. Not everybody feels comfortable phoning a government agency and having those conversations. We can do that for you. So as assistant nominees, that's our role, so speak to us and we can do that. Survivors with psychosocial disability also face additional challenges and they may need increased support, particularly around safeguarding their mental health and wellbeing, particularly if they have already got a lot of mental health challenges happening for them. We ensure a duty of care and make sure that they are safe throughout the process. We can take breaks, we don't have to do it all in one go, we can do it in a week if they want to, or we can do it over 6 months if they need – whatever time period they need, we work with it. We are not time-limited. As I said, we are fully funded so we can do that. 

Some of the barriers around survivors of psychosocial disability, it can be accessing appropriate mental health care and we all know that's a big one, trying to access that care can be quite challenging when you are navigating a complex and under-resourced mental health system. Another barrier is also applicants who live with an acquired brain injury, cognitive disability, also sensory disabilities, so we can work around all of those things as well and assist with those and assist with support people who are assisting with people with those disabilities as well. So we are more than happy to have them involved in the process with the client's permission. So from beginning to end, no problem at all. 

Many applicants also face some physical and communication barriers. That includes accessible face-to-face communication support, mobility barriers. Some have those more specific supports they might require like AAC, which is augmentative or alternative communication, or also acquiring Auslan Interpreters, particularly for a time when they are having a session with their redress support worker. So the redress support worker will do all of that background stuff. We also address the barriers by providing the full flexible person-centred support that adapts to their individual needs. What else do we do? We also provide all of the accessible resources as I mentioned before, and if people need resources in language, we can always speak to the Scheme as well, and they provide us with these awesome books that are all in language and also some brochures and stuff, and we can get that information as well. 

One of the biggest barriers that we also come across is the complex language and legal terminology, particularly if an applicant needs to speak with one of the legal services. Legal services are great, they will give you all of your legal options. They will give you your options around redress, around civil, around whether you should consider a criminal – all of that sort of stuff. But lawyers are lawyers. They can talk very fast, and they can use a lot of complex language. Our role is to make sure, like we can sit with clients through those meetings, and we can make sure that the clients understand exactly what the lawyer is saying, and we have no problem with saying, ‘I'm sorry Miss Lawyer, you need to actually slow down or repeat that because I don't think you've quite explained it well enough for the client to understand.’ We'll often ask the client, ‘Did you understand that?’ Often we'll get, ‘Yes’ and we'll say, ‘So what did you understand?’ Sometimes they haven't actually understood it all, so we ask the lawyer to explain it in a way that they understand. That's our role there. Our role is not being a lawyer, but our role is to ensure that anything a lawyer provides to somebody, they know what they are listening to, and they know what they are signing off on, and that's very much about their rights to know. So we understand the rights, completing the forms, making informed decisions about their redress journey, and what they want to do. Once again, the simplified language, the accessible materials all play a role in this. We also collaborate with legal services like Knowmore. We also collaborate with a lot of other local legal services as well when they are on Country, or around rural remote communities, and we are happy to work with anybody that the client is already engaged with or would like to engage with. 

There is another barrier that I'd like to quickly speak on, and this one I think is really important. This barrier is a barrier to access privacy and safety in institutional settings. So we know that a lot of people still live in institutional settings. We know that getting access to privacy when they are talking about their redress application or their sexual abuse can be pretty tricky. So some of the institutional settings that I refer to are prison settings, they can also be disability homes, Specialist disability accommodation where there are other people roaming around the house that live there with you, or workers in and around the house that move around freely, and you might be wanting to have a conversation privately, and there are people knocking on the door, walking in, so on and so forth. That's one barrier. 

Other barriers are also having that confidentiality stuff there. So being able to get the application to the client so that they can read it and sign off on it without other people seeing what is in that application, because that's deeply private information. So we work really, really hard to ensure that it’s for the client's eyes only. If they choose to share that with their support worker or whoever, then that is their choice to do so, that is not our choice for that to go out to them. We just advocate and work closely with DSS also, particularly around addressing barriers, and I know Lucy has been really, really helpful on a number of times when there have been some tricky things for people with disability, where they have got some physical barriers preventing them to speak to the Scheme, and they have been very helpful to make that happen for that client so that their application gets lodged and moves forward. I think that's it. 

Michelle Howe: Thank you, Linda. Thank you. That's really, really comprehensive and wonderful information, so we really appreciate you sharing all of that. Lucy, I'll go back to you just on a related question to some of those barriers. So what can people do in practice if they are finding it hard to put together that application? Because you also touched on the type of information or support, kind of evidence that is required. If people are having trouble, for instance, tracking down relevant documents or evidence, what can they do?

Lucy Knight: That's a really good question, and thank you for the opportunity to expand on that, because we are talking about abuse before the age of 18. We are talking historical abuse. So not only may you not have access to records, the records may not exist, or your memory may be significantly impacted as I talked about before. We have come across some situations where whole streams of records were ruined through fires and floods and things like that. I wanted to acknowledge the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, acknowledged that very much so, going through that and establishing the Scheme, the Australian Government has acknowledged that further and we are working with, it is going to be a strange term, it is a concept of proof that is reasonably likely. So it is a lower level of proof considered when you look at civil or criminal court proceedings. So you don't need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, or anything like that – my very un-legal way of saying things. 

Basically, reasonable likelihood means that it is reasonably likely you experienced abuse the way you described it within the environment of that institution or activity associated with that institution. That's why we ask you to provide as much information as you can. If you can't remember, or you don't have access to records or you are worried that records exist, I want to say let us worry about that for you, we are here to help you. Linda described it well that a Redress Support Service can help you support in writing that information down and supporting your application process in sharing your journey in such a way that the Scheme can pick up and run with the detail and we can see what we can request on your behalf. So access to information, or lack of access to information, should not prevent you from lodging an application. 

If there is anything missing, if we think we need something further, we'll be in contact with you. So we are likely to send you a letter asking for some specific further information, and you can ring the Scheme and talk to us with the phone number that Michelle mentioned before. You are able to ring the Scheme and talk to us about it. You can speak to the Scheme directly if you have got concerns about what records you could or could not access, but you are welcome to speak to your Redress Support Services, they are very, very experienced in how to navigate and work through those issues. At the end of the day, the Scheme is here for survivors, and we want to ensure that people get access to redress if they are entitled and eligible for it as they go through the process.

Michelle Howe: Sure. Just reiterating one point that applicants can provide extra information after they have applied, just want to confirm that one as well.

Lucy Knight: Yes, absolutely. It was in my notes, I missed that.

Michelle Howe: That's okay, but I think that's important.

Lucy Knight: Yeah, and we do have quite a lot of cases where you don't remember that you had something and a memory starts and the process is, ‘oh, actually’, and you can lodge that at any stage before the claim is made.

Michelle Howe: Great, thanks, Lucy. We touched a bit on lawyers, the legal threshold, Linda talked about their services, working with some of those other legal services. One question we also got that I'd like to confirm with people is legal assistance for redress, if people do want to access legal assistance how can people access that and do they need a lawyer?

Lucy Knight: Okay, love this question. I want to make it very, very clear – I am going to come across quite firm with this – you do not require a lawyer to access the Scheme. I do want to say, if you are choosing to, or if the applicant is choosing to, you are not prevented from doing that. In fact, the Scheme has engaged Knowmore Legal Services to provide free legal support, and it is free, they will not charge you. I want to be clear there are some lawyers that charge a fee for this service. It is not a requirement that that happens. In fact, we do have the free services through Knowmore Legal Services. Knowmore is available across the country, so they can manage their engagement over the phone. They also have offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, and they travel to a lot of remote locations or regional locations as well. You can find information about Knowmore and the services they offer on their website, and you can access the National Redress Scheme website, and they can provide some additional information about the services Knowmore offers. Again, you do not require a lawyer, if you choose to do so you are welcome to do so, and as Linda said, our Redress Support Services will work alongside who you choose to engage through that process. Applicant choice is really critical for us throughout this process.

Michelle Howe: Thanks so much, Lucy. So we are nearing the end of the session today. But I wanted to ask you, Lucy, just 2 more questions that we received during the registration process and again they are important ones. The first one is, what are the options for people for appealing a decision that has been made regarding their application to the Scheme?

Lucy Knight: Yep. Good question. You can absolutely ask for a review after you have received your outcome. So we talked earlier about an Independent Decision Maker making a determination. As a result of that, you'll receive a letter. In that letter, you will receive your outcome of redress, and linking back to what I was saying earlier, it will talk about the 3 components. So the payment amount, the redress – sorry the access to a Direct Personal Response and the counselling and psychological care services. If you are not happy with your outcome, you can talk to the Scheme, and we can talk you through what that means for you, and you do get the ability to ask for a review of the decision. I do want to say, you can only ask for one review, and I should have said up-front as well, you can only apply for the Scheme once. 

So when you apply for a review, there is a particular form that you need to complete, and we can provide you with copies of that form. Your support service can also support you in doing so. You are also allowed to, or can provide additional information as part of that review. When we do that review, it will be given to a new Independent Decision Maker, so it is not going back to the same person. A new Independent Decision Maker will have a look at all of the information and then will make a determination or have a decision on an outcome as a result of that. There are a couple of different options that can come out of that. It could be that your redress outcome could be the same, stay the same. It could mean that if an offer was made it may increase the dollar amount, or decrease the dollar amount. It could mean a completely different decision is made. As with every review, it will be considered on the merits of the information provided and supported with that. There could be different sorts of outcomes that could go through that. Again, if that's something that you are thinking about, we would very much encourage you to speak with Knowmore and your Redress Support Services around what your options are and what that might look like for you as you go through, and you can contact the team and speak to the team if interested. I think that's it for that one.

Michelle Howe: Great, thank you. Just letting people know that contact details for Knowmore who we have been referring to today have also been popped into the chat. We'll just wrap up with one final question. Lucy, what should people do if they need to report abuse?

Lucy Knight: Really, really critical question. Immediately if you are concerned about your safety or your own personal situation or that of somebody else, you'd be contacting emergency services, going through to 000 for any critical issues or things like that. If you are concerned that someone is still at risk for being harmed that's exactly what I was just saying there, sorry, repeating myself, contact 000, that's probably the most critical thing – don't come through the Scheme for those things. 

Participating institutions across the country, every state and territory have their mandatory reporting requirements when it comes to child safe reports. If they identify an abuser is still acting or doing certain things, or someone is still at risk, they must follow the relevant legislation and must lodge some child safe reporting through that. The Scheme also will consider if there is information available to the Scheme that might mean a child safe report needs to be made. If that's the case, we'll contact the relevant state or territory where the institution exists and where the applicant now lives and let them know, and they might take that information, and based on what the applicant is willing to share with us, and then consider what actions they may take as a result around that. Your Redress Support Services are there for support and to guide survivors and support workers for survivors going through that. So you are welcome to go to them too. You may choose to lodge a complaint directly with the institution, and that's something that you make a decision to do, so that's independent of the Scheme. I feel like I want to say that a support service can also guide you in what that might look like for your perspective too.

Michelle Howe: We are just about out of time. So we'll wrap up the questions there, but before we close, I'd like to thank Linda and Lucy for their time and the amazing information they have provided today. I hope everyone has found it really useful. I'd particularly like to thank PWDA again for hosting the event today, thank you. Finally, thank you everyone for joining, and just a reminder, if you need support, there are contact details that we displayed on the screen and in the chat. Contact information for the National Redress Scheme is also in the chat. The National Redress Scheme phone number again is 1800 737 377, and there are those support services details on the screen and the National Redress Scheme website is nationalredress.gov.au. That brings us to the end of today. Thanks so much everybody, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon.