Thousands of survivors of child sexual abuse are set to gain access to compensation after both New South Wales and Victoria agreed to join a national redress scheme. That move is putting pressure on other states and territories, as well as private institutions such as Churches and charities, to sign up.
The national redress scheme is worth about $3.8 billion in total.
Compensation payments in this case are capped at $150,000 per person, less than the $200,000 cap recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
But the average payment is around $11,000 higher than the royal commission recommendation of $65,000.
Any survivor who has become a sex offender, or anyone jailed for five years or more for a serious crime, remains excluded from the scheme.
That is a point which has drawn widespread opposition from survivor groups.
More than 9,000 people in New South Wales and around 5,000 in Victoria will be able to access the scheme as a result of the two state governments signing on to it.
But that only covers people sexually abused in government institutions -- hence, the pressure on private bodies to sign up as well.
Eligible survivors in Victoria and New South Wales will be able to access the scheme from July the 1st.
If all other states and private institutions sign on, the scheme is expected to cover around 60,000 people nationally.
