The Senate has voted not to investigate increasing the cap on National Redress Scheme payments to $200,000, choosing to wait for an independent report.
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The cap, currently at $150,000 for survivrors of child sexual abuse, was initially recommended to be $200,000 in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and is supported by Labor.
A bill tweaking the scheme passed parliament on Monday evening, stamping into law technical changes allowing more information to be made public on institutions that have not joined.
Labor failed to secure a raft of amendments to the bill, which largely called on the responsible minister to consider various issues.
One was for Social Services Minister Anne Ruston to consider what needs to occur for redress payments to increase to $200,000 from $150,000, and prepare a report on action taken within 90 days of the bill passing.
The amendment failed by two votes, despite receiving some crossbench support.
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The federal government is waiting to receive recommendations from a review of the scheme before making any changes.
The independent review is due to be finished by the end of February, with former senior mental health bureaucrat Robyn Kruk looking at how the scheme is working for survivors.
Senator Ruston says Ms Kruk has consulted with many survivors and wants to act on their feedback.
The review is expected to canvass issues raised in Labor's amendments, including further ways to ensure institutions join the scheme.
A survivor of clerical sexual abuse when he was a schoolboy in Ballarat, Stephen Woods, said the Redress application process put survivors off seeking help, and called it "diabolical".
"The fact that so few people have gone through the system shows how little they (the government) really want it to work," he said.
"It's not like Australia can't afford it.
"Those of us with destroyed lives are living with these destroyed lives."
Federal Ballarat MP Catherine King said it was "disappointing" the measures were voted down, as they would "have offered more timely redress, more support to survivors, and a fairer redress system".
"Survivors from Ballarat and around Australia bravely stood up, told their stories, and made our nation safer for all children," she said in a statement.
"The National Redress scheme recommended by the Royal Commission was designed to give back to these survivors, to support those who have lived through so much, to recognise their suffering, and to provide whatever assistance can be provided.
"Unfortunately, too many survivors have been left waiting for redress, while others have been offered too little.
"While the Government will still be able to consider the two-year review of the scheme, survivors who have already waited so long should not be forced to wait to see if or when the Government acts."
The scheme began in 2018 after being recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
It provides access to counselling, redress payments and a direct personal response such as an apology from an institution, if the survivor wants it.
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But they can't be given redress unless the institution they were abused by has joined the scheme.
Many Ballarat institutions have signed up, including the Catholic and Anglican dioceses, as well as schools and organisations which previously ran orphanages.
All state and federal government-run institutions have also signed up.
Affected by this story? There is help available.
You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292.
Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.
- WITH AAP
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