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National Redress Scheme
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.”
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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
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.
Senator Dean Smith:
WA Senator Dean Smith has taken on a challenging role as Chair of a parliamentary Joint Select Committee overseeing the implementation of the National Redress Scheme. The Senator has accepted the challenge with commitment and a passion for improving the experience of survivors seeking redress through the Scheme. Over the last year, Senator Smith has been outspoken on key issues affecting survivors engaging with the National Scheme, and has put pressure on institutions to sign up. He has gone to particular lengths to investigate why justice is being delayed for survivors of abuse at Fairbridge Farm School WA. The Joint Select Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme, chaired by Senator Dean Smith, is now accepting submissions to inform its Second Interim Report. The deadline for submissions is 30 October 2020, although the Committee will continue to consider and accept submissions after this date to inform its ongoing work. The Committee’s inquiry is taking place at the same time as the legislated two-year anniversary review of the National Redress Scheme (see our story below), however the two processes are separate. The Review will report to government, whereas the Committee will continue to report its ongoing work to the Parliament.
A mandatory review of the National Redress Scheme,
required by the legislation, commenced two years after the start of the Scheme. The process is being conducted by independent reviewer Robyn Kruk AO, who has gathered input from survivors, advocates and support services via written submissions and oral evidence. Tuart Place participants, advocates, and members of staff contributed feedback in video conference interviews during August 2020. Tuart Place’s formal written submission, provided to the Review in September, highlights key issues arising at the service delivery level, and identifies ways in which the Scheme’s systems and processes can be improved. Although submissions have now closed, an online feedback survey will be available throughout October. The Review is due to report its findings in early 2021. Further information is available at nationalredress.gov.au/ about/second-anniversary-review The First Interim Report from Senator Smith’s committee, published well ahead of schedule in April 2020, makes 14 Recommendations for improving the National Redress Scheme. FACT Chairperson Cevrina Reed, Tuart Place Director Dr Philippa White, and Counsellor Sarah Regan provided evidence via teleconference to a public hearing of the Joint Select Committee in April this year. Our formal written submission to the Committee is available at aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=5f55c05b
The next phase of work: Second Interim Report
d6ce-4198-b852-e1f886294e09&subId=686483 The next stage of the inquiry will focus on the following areas: • Ongoing survivor experience • Operation of the National Redress Scheme, including decision-making frameworks and processes • Provision of legal advice to survivors • Survivor and institution participation in the Scheme • Responses to the Committee’s First Interim Report. Senator Smith said he wishes to assure survivors who contribute to the Second Interim Report that all requests for confidentiality will be respected. For further information, phone the Committee Secretariat on (02) 6277-4549 or visit their website at: aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/
National_Redress_Scheme
This story has a pretty happy ending!
‘Peter’ had lots of unanswered questions about his childhood, and always wondered why he had not been adopted, as some of his siblings were. A Ward of the State from the age of two, Peter spent his childhood in a series of institutions and foster care placements. After submitting an application to the National Redress Scheme, with assistance from Sarah at Tuart Place, Sarah was notified that records of Peter’s time at ‘Mofflyn’ had been located, and were available for access. The Redress Scheme then facilitated contact with UnitingCare West – the holder of historical records for Mofflyn. A helpful letter soon arrived from UnitingCare West, in which the organisation acknowledged that Peter had requested these records in 1992, but had been denied access at that time. Peter’s records were sent to him via Tuart Place. Peter said he found some of the material confronting, but that it had answered some of the questions he had about his past. For example, Peter learned that his sisters had visited him at Mofflyn and Ngala, and had tried to keep the family together. Precious information indeed. Someone once said to me, when I was bemoaning my miserable life, “You can sit down and feel sorry for yourself, or you can get up and make the most of this one life you have been given.” Too many of us have died afraid to speak out. I want to pay tribute to two amazing women who endured the same ordeals and trauma as I: Margaret Peterson (Watts) and Ann (Lucy) McVeigh. Ann and Margaret, you had the guts to take on bureaucracy and institutions. You never gave up in your quest to establish the basic human rights of those who were ‘disposable children’. The difficulties you experienced were extreme. Many times you sought access to official records hoping to find the key to your identity and family history. You were dismissed and let down time and time again. Your dogged persistence and belief in justice led you to set up your own organisation – ICAS – the Institutional Child Abuse Society. Other groups then followed: VOICES, CBERS, CLAN, and wonderful Tuart Place. A call to institutions holding records of out-of-home care
Tuart Place congratulates the National Redress Scheme and UnitingCare West for their work on behalf of ‘Peter’, and calls on other past provider institutions to also voluntarily offer to provide records to redress applicants. As things stand, these records are ‘protected information’ under the Scheme. However, there is nothing to prevent institutions following the lead of UnitingCare West and voluntarily offering applicants access to a copy of the historical records that they have recently collated and provided to the Scheme. Such a move would be in keeping with the Royal Commission’s recommendations and DSS Best Practice Guidelines developed alongside the ‘Setting the Record Straight’ initiative. Take a look at the Out of Home Care Records webinar recently published by Find & Connect: https://www.findandconnectwrblog.info/2020/09/ out-of-home-care-records-webinar/ The webinar provides information on how governments and regulators can make it easier for care leavers to access their personal records. CLAN Vice-President Frank Golding OAM provides an expert’s perspective on the importance of easing access to records for those about whom they were
A tribute from Gloria Nicolau
created. You were true pioneers of the historical Forgotten Australians and Child Migrant apologies, followed by the Redress WA scheme. You undertook a mammoth task and gave us all cause for hope. You deserve much more recognition and I applaud you both. We, the no-longer-Forgotten-Ones, owe you a debt of profound gratitude. You did not seek praise or remembrance, but as the saying goes: “If you build a legacy, you will be remembered forever”. Thank you Ann and Margaret. I am in awe of your resilience, strength and determination. You fought for justice, recognition, truth, and the basic human right to know who we are: to claim our identity.
