About redress payments

Redress payments will be:

• non-taxable,
• exempt from Commonwealth debt recovery,
• exempt from income tests relevant to Commonwealth Government payments, and;
• exempt from creditors where a person is bankrupt.

Any prior payments you received that were related to the abuse (sexual or physical), or harm caused by the abuse, will be deducted from your final redress payment. You are required to tell us about any prior payments you receive from an institution before you accept your redress offer.

• this includes payments made as a court awarded payment, through victims of crime, or from another redress scheme
• prior payments will be adjusted to today's value, using a formula, accounting for the number of full years since you received the payment to the date that the application was submitted to the Scheme
• if the institution made a payment to you for any medical, dental, legal or other expenses, the payment will not be considered and will not be deducted from your redress payment.

If you received a prior payment, please attach any documents, such as a settlement or deed you have signed, to your application. We need these documents to understand why the payment was made and that you did agree to accept the payment from the institution. We will contact you if an institution tells us a payment was made to you.

A redress payment can be included as part of the assets test for Commonwealth Government payments.

How can I receive my payment? 

When you accept the offer of a redress payment, you will also be asked to complete a ‘Redress Payment Choice form’ that is sent with your offer letter. You will be asked to provide details of a bank account in your name. You can choose to be paid your redress payment to your nominated bank account either as:

• a single lump sum,
• by instalments, or
• a combination of both - an upfront lump sum, with the remainder paid by instalments.

Note: If you are under a Financial Administrative Order appointed by a court, please tell us so that redress payment can be made to the financial administrator.

It is recommended that you get free and confidential legal advice from knowmore before signing the acceptance document. This service will help you understand the options available to you. You can contact knowmore on 1800 605 762 or by visiting the knowmore website(Opens in a new tab/window).

About a direct personal response

Many survivors have found a direct personal response to be very important in helping them to achieve a sense of healing and to feel like something is being done to prevent such traumas happening to future generations.

A direct personal response is tailored to you. It could include:

• an apology from the institution/s, which acknowledges your personal experience and the impact the abuse has had on you
• the institution/s taking responsibility for what happened; and
• an explanation from the institution/s on what they have done, or will do, to stop abuse from happening again. 

A direct personal response will usually involve some form of contact with the institution/s. You do not have to do this on your own.

To support you in deciding whether you would like a direct personal response, or to get help with organising one, you can: 

• speak to a support person, such as a friend, family member, or a counsellor
• talk to a Redress Support Service to help you decide
• contact the Scheme’s DPR Information and Support service by calling us on 1800 737 377 Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm, and asking to talk to the DPR Information and Support service.

To receive a direct personal response, you will need to:

• accept the offer of a direct personal response
• arrange the direct personal response

If needed, you can delay or stop this process at any time.

How to apply if you are in gaol

If you want to apply for redress, you can ask the Scheme to send you an Application for Redress form, an Application Guidebook and other forms by mail. You can do this by:

• calling the Scheme using the Common Auto Dial List number in your gaol, Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm, or
• calling the Scheme on 1800 737 377 Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm, or  
• writing to us.

Your Application for Redress can then be mailed for free to the Scheme:

             NRS
             Reply Paid 7750
             Canberra BC ACT 2610
             Australia.

Mail between you and the Scheme is treated as privileged mail.

If you have a criminal conviction of five years or more for a single offence, you may be subject to a further special assessment process before your application for redress can progress.

Appointing a Nominee

To help us communicate with you while you are in gaol, you may want to appoint a redress nominee.

A redress nominee is a person or an organisation who you trust, and who can be your main point of contact to act on your behalf with the Scheme.

For more details about appointing a nominee, contact the Scheme.

Contact us for more help

Applying if you have a Serious Criminal Conviction

You will need to fill out the Serious Criminal Convictions Additional Information Form. Keep a copy and send it back to us. If you don't return it within 8 weeks, your application will be paused.

If you would like a person or an organisation to contact the Scheme and act on your behalf for the purposes of the Scheme, you can access the Redress Nominee Form.

Serious Criminal Convictions Additional Information Form

The form has two parts:

• Part A: Provides information for a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC).
• Part B: Provides details about your conviction and any rehabilitation efforts that you have participated in.

How your information is used and protected

When applying to the National Redress Scheme, your personal information will be required to progress your application. The Australian Government Department of Social Services (the department) administers the National Redress Scheme, assisted by Services Australia. The information you provide us in your application (and in any attachments, related verbal or written statements, or documents) is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988(Opens in a new tab/window) (Privacy Act) and the strict confidentiality provisions of the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018(Opens in a new tab/window) (the Redress Act).

The Redress Act and Privacy Act set out how your information can be collected, stored, accessed, used and disclosed.

Privacy is important to us, and the information collected must be directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, one or more of our functions under the Redress Act. At times, your information may be shared with other people and organisations (third parties) who may need to view it in order to manage or respond to your application, or for other authorised purposes. Examples of these third parties can be found in our Privacy Notice. People who use or share your information without the authority to do so, can be fined or gaoled.

If you do not agree to us collecting, using and disclosing information that is relevant to your application, or after making your application you no longer agree to us using or disclosing your information, we may not be able to progress your application, or our ability to progress your application may be restricted.

More information about how we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy contains information on how you can access your personal information that we hold, and how to seek correction of that personal information. It also contains information about how to make a complaint about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988.

Read the Privacy Policy and Notices to understand about how your information is collected, stored and used

Protected Information

The protection of applicants’ deeply personal information and institutions’ sensitive information is paramount to the National Redress Scheme. The Scheme takes its responsibility for protected information seriously to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation for survivors and maintain the integrity of, and trust in, Scheme processes and decision making.

Media outlets, applicants, government and non-government institutions, and other relevant stakeholders are reminded that information about a person or an institution that is held by the National Redress Scheme is protected information and cannot be disclosed unless authorised in accordance with the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Act 2018. 

Penalties apply to the unauthorised disclosure of protected information in certain circumstances.

Please refer to the protected information factsheet or contact the Scheme on 1800 737 377 for more information or to report suspected unauthorised disclosure of protected information.
 

Internal investigations and disciplinary procedures by institutions

• Institutions can use information received from the Scheme to undertake internal investigation and disciplinary procedures.
• The Scheme may contact an applicant, on behalf of an institution, to see if the applicant wants to participate in an internal investigation and disciplinary procedure.
• Where an applicant indicates to the Scheme that they do not wish to participate in an internal investigation or disciplinary procedure, being undertaken by an institution, the Scheme expects that an institution will respect the applicant’s wishes.
• Institutions must not try to contact an applicant separately to the Scheme.

Reporting abuse to keep children safe

• Under the law, the Scheme and participating institutions must report risks of ongoing abuse, based upon the information in your application, to the Police and child protection authorities.
• The Scheme may need to contact you to discuss the matter further before making a report. Anonymous reports can be made to the police if you do not wish to be identified.
• Where institutions are made aware of risks of ongoing abuse or past abuse, they may have an obligation to advise relevant authorities. Where the Scheme knows a person does not want to be identified in a report made to authorities, the Scheme will advise an institution. In some circumstances, institutions may be obligated by law to disclose an applicant’s name in order for authorities to undertake an investigation.
• Applicants should discuss with the Scheme what these reporting obligations may mean for them.

Application Guidebook

The Application Guidebook contains information about the Scheme and advice on each question in the application. The Guidebook is designed to be used when filling out the application form.

Application form

The application form is provided in three formats, Fillable PDF, printable PDF and online. You can choose which format suits you to apply.

• The Application for Redress form – please complete the form with as much information as possible.
• A separate Part 2 of the application form – if applying for redress for more than one institution, you must complete a new Part 2 in full for each institution.

Please note: To use the fillable PDF application form, fillable PDF Part 2 form, and fillable PDF nominee form, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Download the Fillable PDF application and PDF Part 2 forms
Step 2: Save each PDF document to your desktop
Step 3: Open the PDF documents from your computer to complete the questions.

These forms cannot be completed in a web browser. For more information, visit Fillable forms.

myGov is a secure way to access government services such as the National Redress Scheme online with one login and one password.

Creating a myGov account

To create a myGov account go to my.gov.au(Opens in a new tab/window) and select create account(Opens in a new tab/window). You will be asked to accept the terms and conditions for use and then provide an email address.

If you receive benefits from Services Australia or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or lodge your tax return online, you may already have a myGov account.

Enquires about myGov

Contact the myGov helpdesk for help signing in and using your myGov account. Call the myGov helpdesk on 132 307 and select option 1, Mon to Fri 7am to 10pm and Sat to Sun 10am to 5pm.

If you are calling from outside Australia, contact the myGov helpdesk by calling +61 1300 169 468 and select option 1. If you are using a landline to call Australia from overseas, you’ll need to use an international dial out code, followed by this number. Then select option 1.

Accessing the application online

Once you have set up your myGov account, signed in to your existing myGov account, you can access the online application form and submit by following the below steps.

1. click on 'View and link services(Opens in a new tab/window)'
2. select the 'National Redress Scheme'
3. click on 'Start' to get access to the application. You can save it and come back to it whenever you need to
4. when filling in the online application form, please save your progress regularly
5. review your completed online application
6. read the declaration and click on the box next to ‘I agree’
7. scan and upload any supporting documents
8. submit your completed online application. Once submitted, the Scheme will use your myGov digital authentication in place of your written signature and date
9. please print a copy of your completed online application for your records.
    

Tip: Your application for Redress can take time to complete, and the system times out after 15 minutes.  To avoid losing part of your application, you should save your progress regularly, for example every 5 to 10 minutes

Tip: You can type the longer text sections for Part 2 and Part 3 into a word document and cut and paste your response to the online application form. We note that not all word documenting software is compatible with this feature. Please be aware of this.

Getting letters online

To get letters from the Scheme in your myGov Inbox after you have applied online:

1. sign in to myGov using your details, or create a new account
2. click on 'View and link services'
3. select the 'National Redress Scheme'
4. answer or setup your security questions
5. fill in your application details and answer either ‘Use myGov Inbox’ or ‘Use both’ to the question ‘What address should the Scheme use to send you letters?’
6. submit your application
7. the next time we send you a letter it will be to your myGov Inbox.

To get letters sent to in your myGov Inbox after you have applied by paper form

1. when you fill in your paper application check the option to receive your correspondence via myGov Inbox
2. sign in to myGov, or create a new account
3. click on 'View and link services'
4. select the 'National Redress Scheme'
5. answer or setup your Redress security questions
6. click on 'Link your application'
7. type in your Redress ID and Application ID that was given to you from the National Redress Scheme. This would have been when they called you to acknowledge that your application was received
8. we will send all possible letters to you via your myGov inbox, but this is not always possible.  Sometimes you will receive a letter in the post.

See other ways to apply on the ‘How to apply’ page