Abuse in State Care: Understanding Your Rights
Cases involving abuse of children in the care of the state are among the most serious and distressing matters in personal injury law. In New South Wales, government agencies such as the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) have a clear duty to protect children who are known to be at risk — including those […]
Case Study: DP (a pseudonym) v Bird
Trigger warning: This blog contains explicit references to subject matter and material that may be traumatising or upsetting for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse and their families. Reader discretion is advised. Update – November 2024: Since the publication of this article, the High Court of Australia has handed down its landmark decision in Bird v DP […]
Case Study: Grant v Bird [2021] VSC 380
Update – November 2024: Since the publication of this article, the High Court of Australia has handed down its landmark decision in Bird v DP (a pseudonym) [2024] HCA 41, which significantly changes the legal landscape for institutional child sexual abuse claims. The Court confirmed that vicarious liability is limited to traditional employment relationships and […]
Government’s Interim Response: National Redress Scheme
Interim response by the Australian Government to the Final Report of the Second-year Review of the National Redress Scheme Trigger warning: This blog contains explicit references to subject matter and material that may be traumatising or upsetting for survivors and their families. Reader discretion is advised. Yesterday, the Australian Government released its interim response to […]
National Child Sexual Institutional Abuse Redress Scheme fraught with lengthy delays
A recent article in The Australian reported that while 2335 people have applied for compensation under the National Child Sexual Institutional Abuse Redress Scheme, only 28 people have received compensation since the scheme’s commencement on 1 July 2018. A major flaw of the National Child Sexual Institutional Abuse Redress Scheme is that an institution has to […]
Legislative changes in NSW tighten the hold on responsibility for institutional abuse
Previously, institutions responsible for the care of children may have escaped liability for the effects of abuse on the vulnerable child they were meant to care for. It has long been recognised that organisations are responsible for the actions of their employees. This is known as vicarious liability. However, responsibility through vicarious liability did not […]
Statutory Redress Scheme for victims of institutional abuse
A new federal compensation scheme commenced on 1 July 2018, for victims of institutional abuse. Under this National Redress Scheme (‘the Scheme’) victims can apply for redress payments if they were subject to sexual abuse as a child at a “participating institution”. The scheme operator will investigate the claim and, if a participating institution is […]