ABUSE Victims Want National Redress Scheme

9 News
May 15, 2015

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/05/15/12/41/abuse-victims-want-national-redress-scheme

The federal government's rejection of a national redress scheme for people abused in institutions is the ultimate slap in the face and could lead to more deaths, a victim says.

Peter Blenkiron, who was abused in a Victorian Catholic school in 1974, blasted the Abbott government for rejecting the scheme as too costly and too complex to implement.

"It was the ultimate slap in the face," the Ballarat man told AAP.

He said victims were losing hope and he feared more may commit suicide, with a high number of suicides and premature deaths among people who were abused as children in the Ballarat diocese.

"Not every one of the survivors out there needs it but the ones that do, if they don't get some practical help they'll be dead," he said.

"We need to put a system in place to stop the deaths and if you don't, the bubble of hope will burst and people will die. People are dying today."

Mr Blenkiron and lawyer and Monash University doctoral researcher Judy Courtin point to three church fires lit in Melbourne soon after Canberra's rejection of a single national scheme as a possible sign of survivors' frustration.

Ms Courtin said the government had thumbed its nose not only at abuse survivors and their families but the rest of the community, and the rebuff was having a negative impact on victims.

She said even after the Victorian child abuse inquiry and now the royal commission, nothing had been delivered for survivors.

"Those people who have bared their souls, it's been very stressful for them. There's nothing really coming back.

"It's just absolutely appalling that the federal government has done this."

Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley said having separate redress schemes in each jurisdiction was "absolutely crazy" but he hoped the federal government would change its mind.

"If need be we'll go to the UN," he said.

"How can Australia be conforming with the UN Convention on Rights of the Child when they're not prepared to see the process through to its completion. Redress has got to be part of the process."

Since the government's royal commission submission on redress, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has promised a strong and comprehensive response to whatever the commission proposed.

Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Catholic Church's Truth Justice and Healing Council, said there needs to be an independent umpire and ease of access for victims to generous redress.

"The national redress scheme will not mean that any taxpayer dollars will go towards paying any compensation that the church owes. The church will pay its way 100 per cent."

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.