REDRESS SCHEME - THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S PLAN
* Scheme to be operated by the Commonwealth.
* States, territories and institutions like churches and charities to opt-in.
* Comprises monetary payments, access to psychological counselling and direct personal responses from responsible institutions, if requested.
* Maximum compensation of $150,000 - versus the child abuse royal commission's recommended $200,000 cap, for severe cases.
* Initially to cover 1000 victims abused in Commonwealth and territory institutions.
* Commission had estimated total cost of a national redress scheme at $4.01 billion with 60,000 survivors eligible to make claims.
* To begin July, 2018.
* Telephone helpline and website available from March, 2018.
* To be open for 10 years - instead of commission's recommendation for no fixed closing date.
* Redress offers open for three months - instead of recommended one year.
* Range of Medicare-funded counselling and psychological care services won't be expanded, as commission recommended.
* Counselling only available for survivors - the commission had recommended limited counselling for family members if reasonably required.
* Run on responsible-entity-pays basis - entities that opt-in have to fund the cost of their own redress claims.
* Federal government cannot compel a state to join, but can force Northern Territory and ACT to do so.
