Contact us before you engage the National Redress Scheme. Otherwise you might not receive your maximum payment.
As per the current regulations in Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA), we are unable to display certain information about our legal services to people residing in those states. If you are located in QLD or WA, please click on this link to access information on the National Redress Scheme.
The National Redress Scheme (NRS) is a Commonwealth Government-operated scheme that awards financial payments to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
The NRS makes payments of between $0 and $150,000 to survivors of abuse within eligible institutions. The average payment is under $100,000. You can make an application any time between now and 30 June 2027.
To be eligible, you must have experienced sexual abuse as a child within an institution that has elected to participate in the scheme. Participation is not mandatory, and the NRS cannot force unwilling institutions to participate. Many notorious institutions have joined the scheme, including the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Salvation Army, Christian Brothers, Scouts Australia and all State and Territory Governments.
Though often quicker and easier than civil litigation, the National Redress Scheme has a very significant catch.
In exchange for accepting the amount awarded by the NRS, you must sign away all legal rights to pursue the offending institution for compensation in the future. In short, once you accept an NRS payment, all other avenues of compensation are closed.
You may be able to secure a significantly larger financial outcome via alternative avenues to the NRS, such as making a civil claim. However, if you have already accepted an NRS outcome, that option has been extinguished forever. It is, therefore, critical that you obtain expert legal advice before accepting an outcome from the National Redress Scheme.
Case 1:
In 2022, Kelso Lawyers represented a victim of child abuse in a private school in NSW. The victim received $1.15 million in compensation via a civil claim, in circumstances where they would only have been awarded $90,000 under the National Redress Scheme.
Case 2:
In 2022, Kelso Lawyers represented a victim of child abuse in a NSW State primary school. The victim received $250,000 in compensation via a civil claim in circumstances where they would only have been awarded $40,000 under the National Redress Scheme.
In some cases, the National Redress Scheme may be your best (or only) option. However, before applying to the Scheme, it is critical that you receive expert advice on all of your options, so you can make an informed decision about what best suits your personal circumstances.
The first step is to contact us for an initial consultation. This can be done via our online form or by contacting us to request a phone call from our client intake team. Your information is confidential and will be treated with the utmost care and discretion.
Our solicitors will then review your information, and we will be in touch for a free consultation to discuss how we can best assist you. We will discuss all your options with you, which may include court action, alternative dispute resolution or the National Redress Scheme.
It is critical you get the right advice, as each option comes with various risks and benefits. You may cost yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars by not properly considering all your options.
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