National Redress Scheme news National Redress: Information and help with applications If you would like to know more about the National Redress Scheme or get help completing an application form and support throughout the process, you can book a confidential appointment with Jan or Sarah at Tuart Place. Bernie, who has applied for redress, said: “I find it really hard to know where to start with getting paperwork filled in. When I get forms to fill in, I sometimes put them away, out of sight, which also causes me to worry. I knew I could come here and get help. I sometimes find it hard to ask for things but Tuart Place knows a lot about what I went through. It has also been helpful to have someone to ring the Scheme for me, to check on how my application is progressing.”
Funder of Last Resort declared for Roelands Native Mission Farm It has been a long, hard wait for survivors seeking redress for childhood abuse at the former Roelands Native Mission Farm. Finally, on 27 August 2020, the WA State Government was declared as the Funder of Last Resort for this long-defunct institution. This means that National Redress applications submitted by Roelands ex-residents can now progress. Sharon Calgaret, a well-known advocate and champion of Stolen Generations’ rights, spoke out strongly on the issue of Roelands when she took part in a videoconference interview with Robyn Kruk AO for the Second Anniversary Review of the National Scheme. Sharon welcomed the recent announcement, saying that it had been a long time coming, and a hard wait for Roelands survivors. The new provision applies specifically to Roelands Native Mission Farm (1938-1975) located at the Seven Hills property, and Valima Girls’ Hostel in Perth, a satellite cottage associated with the mission. Roelands Mission closed in 1975, and a new facility, called Roelands Village, was opened on the same site by the Churches of Christ Federal Aborigines Mission Board Inc.
The more recent institution known as Roelands Village had already opted into the National Redress Scheme.
Tuart Place Social Worker Jan Newman and Sharon Calgaret in August 2020
Fairbridge survivors still waiting for National Redress
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Survivors of abuse at the long-defunct Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School (Pinjarra WA) are still unable to access redress under the National Scheme, because a Funder of Last Resort has still not been established. Approximately 60 applications from Fairbridge survivors have been received by the Scheme, which has been unable to process them. This had seemed like a clear case of governmental responsibility, but in May 2020 the ‘Prince’s Trust’ charity reinstated Fairbridge as an organisation in the UK, under administrators, and announced that: “The Prince’s Trust is providing Fairbridge (Restored) with funds, to give victims and survivors the opportunity to make claims, and it is also our hope that Fairbridge will sign up to the Australian redress scheme.” Old Fairbridgians Association President Richard Hinch welcomed the announcement, but remains sceptical.
UK administrators for ‘Fairbridge Restored’ appeared before a public hearing of the National Redress inquiry on 28 September 2020, and identified significant barriers to the Trust’s participation in the Scheme. They said a key problem was the incompatibility of their 12-month administrative tenure and the 10-year life of the National Redress Scheme. Mr Hinch and Committee Chair Senator Dean Smith will continue to pursue justice for ex-residents of Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School. Meanwhile, many elderly survivors are still waiting and hoping for a resolution to this problem. Sadly, some have passed away, or settled for a partial redress payment. Mr Hinch points out that survivors should not be forced into such a situation, and continues to advocate strongly on this issue.
