SA Govt “can’t afford” abuse compo fund

In Daily
March 24, 2015

http://indaily.com.au/news/2015/03/24/sa-govt-cant-afford-abuse-compo-fund/

Justice Jennifer Coate at public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney this month.

Sydney | Opposition from the Weatherill Government appears to have helped damage hopes for a $4.3 billion national fund to compensate victims of child sexual abuse.

A Commonwealth submission to the Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission says establishing a single national redress scheme would be extremely complex and require significant time and resources.

“This is likely to be frustrating to survivors of child sexual abuse and undermine confidence in the outcomes of the Royal Commission’s work,” it said in the submission published today ahead of a public hearing in Sydney on Wednesday.

The commonwealth submission is one of 44 received by the commission in response to a consultation paper on redress published by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse last January.

The submission from the South Australian Government said funding compensation could cost the state $143 million.

“The South Australian Government is not in a position to contemplate a funding commitment of this magnitude,” it said.

The consultation paper had outlined scenarios for a national compensation scheme where tens of thousands of child abuse survivors would receive payments between $10,000 and $200,000.

The paper modelled a $4.3 billion scheme where non-government organisations would contribute $2.4 billion and governments would come up with extra money to pay victims if the institution responsible no longer existed.

The Federal Government says a national scheme would require major legislative and structural changes.

“While it would be possible for states and territories to refer power to the commonwealth, this could again be expected to require complex and protracted negotiations before national uniformity was achieved.”

The Federal Government also said the commonwealth should not have to become a “funder of last resort”.

The Tasmanian government also opposed the funder of last resort idea.

The Truth, Justice and Healing Council representing the Catholic Church says it does not agree with the suggestion in the consultation paper that governments might negotiate with, or require, non-government institutions to contribute funding of last resort.