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Victorian Redress Scheme

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Victorian Redress Scheme

Support lines

This resource talks about the Victorian Redress Scheme, and experiences of child abuse and neglect. Please take care when using this resource.

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

If you need to talk to someone, please contact one of the following support lines (24hr unless otherwise specified).

Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578 or 1800 211 028

MensLine: 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

Suicide Line: 1300 651 251

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Lifeline: 13 11 14

13YARN (First Nations people): 13 92 76

Blue Knot (complex trauma, 9am-5pm AEST/AEDT, 7 days a week): call 1300 657 380 and press 1

Rainbow Door (LGBTQIA+ communities, 10am – 5pm AEST/AEDT, 7 days per week, excluding public holidays) call 1800 729 367 or SMS 0480 017 246.

What is the Victorian Redress Scheme?

The Victorian Redress Scheme (VRS) for Historical Institutional Abuse is a redress scheme for people who experienced neglect, physical, psychological and/or emotion abuse while they were in ‘care’ in institutional settings in Victoria before 1990.

  • You can read more about the eligibility below.

Jacinta Allen, the then-premier of Victoria, formally apologised on behalf of the state of Victoria on Thursday 8th February 2024.

Applications for VRS are open until 31 December 2026.

Eligibility

  • You were in institutional ‘care’ as a child (before the age of 18) in Victoria before 1990.
Eligible 'care' settings

Institutional ‘care’ settings may include:

  • Children’s homes and orphanages
  • Missions
  • Group cottages
  • Dormitories
  • Disability, medical or mental health facilities
  • Youth justice facilities
  • Foster care
  • Kinship care (for example, legally fostered by a relative)
  • Any placement you were in because you were made a ward of the state in Victoria

Important to note

  • If you were in kinship or foster care, it needs to have been agreed to or arranged by the state.
  • If you experienced abuse or neglect in a justice facility you were placed in because of a crime you committed, and you were not a ward of the state or in care beforehand, your eligibility may need to be discussed further with the redress team.
  • You were in ‘care’ for at least 6 months in total.
    • This can be cumulative (a month in one place, a few weeks in another place, and so on) or all at once.
  • You experienced neglect, physical, psychological and/or emotional abuse while in ‘care’.
Neglect

Neglect is when the person or people who should be taking care of you does not make sure you have the things you need to be happy, healthy, and safe.

  • being underfed or going hungry
  • inadequate clothing (not enough, ill-fitting, not in good condition)
  • lack of schooling
  • separation from siblings
  • not having proper medical care
  • not feeling loved or cared for
  • staff were required to ensure your safety while you were in the care of the state.
    • If you were in foster or kinship care, you might consider whether someone came by to check on your safety and whether you could speak to them alone.
    • If you were in an institution, you might consider whether staff were aware of (or should have been aware of abuse) and did not do anything about it.
      • This includes abuse from staff members, as well as from peers.

Physical abuse is when someone physically hurts or injures you on purpose.

  • hitting, punching, or being beaten
  • being shaken
  • being held down
  • being burned
  • corporal punishment (things like caning, getting the belt, being beaten)
  • being forced to punish others
  • being forced to do activities that cause you pain

Psychological and emotional abuse is when the things an adult says or does hurts you in a way that impacts you for a very long time.

  • calling you names or slurs
  • being made fun of, put down or made to feel bad about yourself
  • forced isolation
  • not knowing where you were in ‘care’
  • not knowing why why you were in ‘care’
  • being isolated from or separated from your siblings and/or family
  • not being told the truth about your family of origin
  • being forced to punish others
  • ignoring you
  • threating you

Sexual abuse is not covered by the Victorian Redress Scheme.

  • If you experienced sexual abuse, you can apply for the National Redress Scheme (NRS).
  • Apply for VRS first.

Potential Redress Outcomes

  • A payment of up to $20,000
  • 20 counselling sessions
  • A formal acknowledgement or apology

Application process

The application involves five parts:

  • basic information (your details, your contact preferences)
  • information to help the redress team find your records (things like roughly where and when you were in ‘care’, if you have ever gone by another name)
  • information to help the redress team decide your outcome (if you have received any prior payments relating to your time in care)
  • your statement
  • submission
Information about you
  • If you have had a name change, or a different spelling of your name, at any time, write this down.
    • Provide evidence of any legal name changes; or
    • if you don’t have those documents, an explanation of why you don’t have them.
  • You will need to provide two types of ID.
    • The ID must be valid (in-date).
    • Any formal ID is acceptable as long as one includes your photo.
      • A driver’s license or proof of age card, and a Medicare card are usually best.
    • To show that the ID is yours, you will need to either
      • provide certified copies of the ID, or
        • This involves photocopying the ID, and having the copies certified.
        • Only certain people can certify copies of official documents, like pharmacists, police officers, Justices of the Peace, notaries, local government councilors, and so on.
    • You can take photos of yourself with your face beside each card.
      • Your face and the words on the ID should be visible.
      • Take one photo for each ID. 
  • You do not need to remember exact dates or the names of the people involved.
    • You will need the name of the institution, or the name you knew it by
    • It is hard to get exact dates, even if you have records: just a rough estimate of when you were there and how long you were there is okay.
    • If you do not recall or do not wish to provide names, you can refer to the people involved as, for example, ‘a staff member’.
  • You do not need to provide or refer to any formal records of your time in care as evidence.
    • The redress team can work from your statement to locate your records.
    • If the redress team cannot locate anything, they will ask you to work with a redress support service to find them

Any information about prior payments relating to your time in care, to speed up the process.

Stolen Generations Scheme and Historical Forced Adoptions Scheme

National Redress Scheme (NRS)
  • If you are eligible for both NRS and VRS, and have not applied for either, you should apply for VRS first.
  • If you are waiting on a civil claim or NRS payment but have not received it yet, do not mark it on the form, as you have not yet received an outcome.
    • If you accept an outcome while waiting for the VRS, you will need to let the VRS team know.
    • Similarly, if you are waiting on an NRS outcome when you accept a VRS outcome, you need to notify the NRS team.
  • If you have received an NRS payment for abuse in ‘care’ in Victoria, you are unlikely to receive a payment from VRS.
    • You can still receive the counselling and acknowledgement.
  • If you have received an NRS payment for abuse relating to time in ‘care’ in another state or territory (outside of Victoria), you are eligible to receive a payment from this scheme, as well as the counselling and acknowledgement.

Civil legal claims

  • If you are currently in the process of a civil claim, you can still apply.
    • Tell your lawyer that you are applying.
    • Do not mark it on the form, as you have not yet received a settlement.
    • If you are paid a settlement while waiting for the VRS, you will need to let the VRS team know.
  • If you have received a VRS outcome, you can still pursue a civil claim if you would like to.
  • If you have already received a civil settlementof over $20,000 relating to time in ‘care’ in Victoria, you are unlikely to receive a payment from the VRS.
    • You can still apply for the acknowledgement and counselling parts of the outcome.
  • If you have already received a civil settlement relating to time in ‘care’ in another state or territory (outside of Victoria), you are eligible to receive a payment from this scheme, as well as the counselling and acknowledgement.

Other Victorian Redress Schemes

If you have received a payment from another redress scheme relating to a Victorian institutional setting, that will be deducted from the payment you would otherwise be offered through VRS.

Those schemes might include:

You do not have to write up a full account of everything that happened to you in ‘care’.

Instead, what the VRS are looking for is two to three examples of your experiences of abuse and/or neglect, and some information about how this has impacted you.

These examples suggest to the assessors what your overall experience in ‘care’ would have been like.

Things to keep in mind

  • There is a word limit (approximately 300 words).
    • It is okay to go over as long as it fits on one page
  • Two to three examples of abuse and/or neglect is best.
    • You do not need to include much detail.
    • Limiting what you write is often less traumatic.
  • It helps to include a sentence or two about impact at the end of your statement.
    • This shows that although these events may have happened a long time ago, they still affect you.
  • If you were in multiple institutions, you do not need to write about all of them.
    • If one location stands out, you can write only about that one.
    • You can write about several if you would like to.

What a statement might look like

  • While in care at [institution], I was abused and neglected by [the staff/particular staff members]
  • An example of this is when —-
  • Another example is when —-
  • Since being in care, I have struggled a lot with [mental health; housing and homelessness; addiction; isolation; the impacts of injuries or disabilities acquired in care; trust; self-image; finding and keeping work; and so on]

You can either:

  • Email a digital copy of your application, along with your ID and name change documents, to
    victorianredress@dffh.vic.gov.au, or
  • Post a printed copy of your application, along with your ID and name change documents, to:
    Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse
    GPO Box 4057
    Melbourne 3000

After you submit your application, you may be contacted by the redress team if they have further questions to confirm your identity.

  • This happens most often for people who have had a change of name.

It can take two months after your submission to receive an outcome.

Outcome

When an outcome has been reached for your application, you will be contacted using your nominated contact method (email or phone) to let you know of the outcome, and the next steps.

(If you have been working with a redress support service and asked the redress team to contact your redress support worker instead of you, you will be contacted by your redress support worker.)

  • If you chose email: they will send you an email to let you know the outcome.
    • They will email forms for you to sign, choose which offers you are accepting, and fill in your bank details if a payment is being offered.
    • You can tick yes or no for each offer.
    • You can e-sign the forms.
    • You can also print the forms to sign, and either post back or email a photo.
  • If you chose phone: they will call to let you know the outcome.
    • They will post forms for you to sign, choose which offers you are accepting, and fill in your bank details if a payment is being offered.
    • You can tick yes or no for each offer.
    • You can either post back or email a photo.

If you have had a previous payment relating to your time in care (excluding the Stolen Generations and Historical Forced Adoptions schemes), you will most likely receive a partial outcome of the 20 counselling sessions and a formal acknowledgement.

If you accept any of the offers, someone from Redress will contact you within a few weeks of receiving your forms to arrange things.

Compensation

If you are offered a payment outcome, they will ask for your bank details.

The payment can only go into an account with your name on it; you can’t give the money to someone else.

The payment is an exempt payment, which means it cannot be counted by services like Centrelink and My Aged Care when they are calculating your income and assets.

  • Any interest you earn on the payment, however, is non-exempt.
    • That means that Centrelink can reduce your payments by the amount of interest you get each month. This should be a small amount.
      • Let Centrelink know if the interest you earn decreases, so they can increase your payment and make sure you are not out of pocket.
    • Alternatively, you can put the money in an interest-free account.
  • Counselling funding can be used with a mental health clinician of your choice, or you can ask the redress team to help you find someone.
  • You can use the sessions for any mental health need – they don’t have to be used to discuss what was in your application.
    • For example, you might use them for a psychiatric assessment for ADHD or autism, skill building or relationship counselling.
  • You can arrange for the sessions to be used by a loved one instead, if you don’t want to use them yourself.
  • Billing is arranged between the redress team and the clinic directly.
  • Not everyone chooses the apology and acknowledgement. Any choice you make is okay.
    • Some people find it helpful for closure.
    • Some people would like a formal document to keep in for their family history.
    • Many applicants choose not to engage with this part of the outcome.
  • The process involves speaking to an independent worker about what you want your acknowledgement to focus on.
    • The acknowledgement is usually a letter, but some people would like an in-person acknowledgement.
      • If you would like it to be in-person, tell the independent worker when you speak with them.
    • The independent worker will collaborate with a government child welfare worker to write your personal acknowledgement.
    • The independent worker will then contact you to provide the letter.
  • Something to keep in mind is that, as VRS does not stop you from pursuing a civil claim as well, the formal apologies from institutions avoid any language that legally imply fault or responsibility on their behalf.

Why use a Redress support service?

Some people feel that working with a support service for VRS is not necessary. Here are some reasons it can be helpful:

  • Redress support workers have usually seen many redress applications through from beginning to end.
    • They know the process well, can offer advice and answer questions.
  • They are familiar with the assessment criteria and usual outcomes
    • They know what information is useful to include and to highlight.
      • Something you may not even have considered as worth including, or even as ‘counting’ as experience of neglect or abuse, might be really  valuable to include.
    • They will know if you are offered an outcome that is lower than usual, and can advocate for a different one.
  • They can help make sure all required identity documents and information are included in the first instance.
    • This minimises your contact with the scheme.
  • With your permission, they can be the main contact for the scheme.
    • This means that the scheme can contact them with questions and they can check the status of your application on your behalf.
  • The process can be emotionally overwhelming.
    • Having someone in your corner to talk it through with can make it less scary.
    • They can connect you with external supports to help support you with the emotional weight of the application.

Sometimes people feel that they shouldn’t use a support service because it is ‘taking resources from people who need them more’.

  • Most people feel like this! And if no one uses the support services, they won’t exist.
  • Everyone deserves to access the scheme and everyone deserves the support.

Organisations who can help

  • Villamanta Disability Legal Service: 1800 014 111
  • Connecting Home: (03) 8679 0777
  • Open Place (Relationships Australia Victoria): 1800 779 379
  • Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA): (03) 9287 8800
  • Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN): 1800 008 774
  • Child Migrants Trust: 1800 04 05 09

Victorian Redress Scheme - how to contact

  • Phone: 1800 716 870
    • free call
    • Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, excluding public holidays
  • Email: victorianredress@dffh.vic.gov.au
  • Mail: Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse
            GPO Box 4057
            Melbourne 3000

Feedback

Redress is a form of reparations, and acknowledgement of the things that were done to you.

If any part of the application or outcome process is upsetting, confusing, or re-traumatising, it can be valuable to give feedback to VRS or to the Department of Families Fairness and Housing. DFFH can use this feedback to improve the redress schemes, and when it designs similar schemes in the future.

Your experience is important.