Two sisters sexually abused by their stepfather decades ago have been awarded almost $1.5 million damages in their civil case against the NSW government.
Last year, a NSW Supreme Court judge found welfare authorities breached a duty of care in that after a complaint was made to them they failed to report the abuse to police.
On Wednesday in a majority decision, the Court of Appeal overturned another finding that the stepfather did not continue to abuse the sisters after the complaint was made.
The State was ordered to pay damages of $939,435 and $536,463 respectively to the women for the psychological harm they suffered.
Justice John Basten, who dissented from the conclusions of Justices Julie Ward and Ronald Sackville, said the sisters suffered "appalling sexual abuse" at the hands of their stepfather.
"Their entitlement, both moral and legal, to substantial compensation for the very serious psychiatric harm done to them, is undeniable," he said.
However their claim was not against the person who directly caused the harm, it had been brought against the State for failing to prevent criminal acts by a person.
The sisters were subjected to ongoing sexual and physical abuse over a number of years, from the time they were aged around five and seven respectively.
They sued the State in relation to a period of a few months in 1983, dating from when one sister complained of the abuse to the Department of Youth and Community Services until a time when all contact ceased between the girls and their stepfather.
They contended the department breached its duty of care by not reporting the abuse to police and had it done so, they would have been protected from further abuse as he would have been charged.
The sisters reported the abuse to police in 2001 and in 2005 their stepfather pleaded guilty to nine charges.
In their appeal, they successfully challenged the finding that the abuse did not continue after the complaint to the department.
"Taking all the evidence together, the abuse continued in the period after April 1983," Justices Ward and Sackville found.
This would have made "a material contribution" to the harm suffered by the siblings.
