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ABC News
18-05-2025
- ABC News
Anglican diocese seeks to sell property to pay child sex abuse claims
The Anglican Diocese of North Queensland is on the brink of financial collapse as it struggles to pay millions of dollars in compensation to victims of child sexual abuse. Bishop Keith Joseph has revealed the diocese, which covers more than a third of Queensland, needs to find about $8 million to pay its victims. The diocese is now preparing a Supreme Court application to formally restructure so it can sell assets to pay the compensation. "There's grief for what's been done. There's sadness for what might be lost," Bishop Joseph said. "But there's also determination to do the right thing." Bishop Joseph said the diocese was under "tremendous pressure" to meet its moral and financial obligations under the National Redress Scheme (NRS). The scheme was created in 2018, a year after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its final report. Bishop Joseph declined to reveal how many claims the north Queensland diocese faced. But he said the church had a moral and legal obligation to meet its commitments to survivors and that meant making difficult choices. "This is about integrity. If we say we believe in justice, we have to act like it," Bishop Joseph said. The Anglican Diocese of North Queensland has 50 parishes across 75 congregations stretching from central Queensland to the Torres Strait in the north and Mount Isa in the west, including in the major regional cities of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay. The Townsville-based diocese has already sold its bishop's residence and diocesan office. Bishop Joseph said no active church buildings would be sold without proper consultation. "It's not just a matter of flogging everything off," he said. "We want to keep the churches where there's a living congregation." Schools, aged care and Anglicare services are separately incorporated and will not be impacted by the proposed restructuring. The chief executive of child protection advocacy group Bravehearts, Alison Geale, said the compensation was necessary to hold the diocese accountable for the wrongs of the past. "It recognises the serious impact of abuse on victims and their families," Ms Geale said. "Providing compensation is at a minimum a validation and can facilitate closure for the victim-survivors and the church." Complaints of child sexual abuse were reported in 22 of the 23 Anglican dioceses across Australia, the royal commission revealed. The abuse claims against the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland stretch back to the 1950s, with most cases occurring in the 1960s to 1980s. Bishop Joseph said none of the claims were from the past 25 years. "There were some truly evil individuals in the past," he said. "We want to acknowledge the harm done while upholding our moral and legal responsibilities." Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia Archbishop Geoffrey Smith declined to comment on the North Queensland diocese's financial situation. Reverend Jeffery Akaoi moved from the Pacific Islands to lead the Whitsunday Parish with his wife and young son in 2022. He is now wondering if they will be forced to move back. "We are not really certain where our future lies. We do not know how it will impact the missions we do," Reverend Akaoi said. Since 2005, the diocese has funded South Pacific missions, assisting local churches and volunteering at nursing homes and youth centres. Reverend Akaoi also travels monthly to Bowen and Ayr to hold services for Australian South Sea Islanders and workers on the Australian government's Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. "We come together and chat and listen to each other's challenges. It extends beyond the dioceses and connects us with Melanesia," he said. Bishop Joseph said selling land and buildings was not a straightforward process. "Our corporate structure doesn't allow for liquidation or administration. Without a restructure, we risk legal limbo," he said. "In north Queensland, we can't just sell a parish property because we think it's the right thing to do. "It's like railway gauges, every state's different." Each Anglican diocese is separately operated and there is no central authority, unlike the Catholic Church of Australia. The Anglican Diocese of North Queensland primarily relies on donations, op shop revenue and rental income to fund its operations. "I think we're probably the first … [Anglican diocese] who certainly have acknowledged there's a significant [money] issue," he said. "I know other regional dioceses are also in troubled financial waters, but they have different legal restraints and conditions. Trust law in NSW, for example, appears quite different." A spokesperson for Anglican Church Southern Queensland (ACSQ) said it supported its north Queensland counterpart's decision to restructure. "The Anglican Church of Australia has created a legal structure to ensure all payments arising from the National Redress Scheme will be paid if an Anglican diocese, school, or ministry organisation defaults on its payments because of financial stress," the spokesperson said. Professor of Law at the University of Southern Queensland Reid Mortensen said the church was governed by remnants of an 1861 colonial Queensland law, long repealed but still shaping how some institutions operated. "That legislation gave legal personality to churches like the Diocese of North Queensland," Professor Mortensen said. "It means they can own property and sell it, but only in certain circumstances." He said charitable trusts where money or property was given not to the church itself, but to support a specific religious purpose, were difficult to modify. "That money doesn't belong to the diocese. It must be used for the purpose it was given," Professor Mortensen said. "To redirect that money, the church needs permission from the Supreme Court and the Attorney-General." Bishop Joseph said he had warned the national Anglican Church for years that redress would be financially impossible for small regional dioceses like his. "There's no national pot of money … we're on our own," he said. "We're not there yet, but without change we won't be able to meet these obligations in future." Bishop Joseph said fulfilling the church's moral duty to pay child sexual abuse victims their compensation would be his legacy to the diocese. "I feel that it's my obligation to try and do something," he said. "We want to honour the victims and we need to go to the Supreme Court to get it resolved."
Sky News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Government rows back on compensation scheme for child sexual abuse victims
A National Redress Scheme was one of the key recommendations under the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, but a Home Office report reveals the government has quietly scrapped it - and it's down to the cost. Sunday 4 May 2025 01:20, UK
Sky News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Child sexual abuse victims 'denied justice' after compensation scheme scrapped over cost
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration. A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost. Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation. As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students. She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were "spread-eagled" as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger. Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse. In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA. Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse. Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims. Civil cases 'can take three to five years' But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court. Mr Garsden said it takes "between three and five years" for a civil case to get to trial. He warned that claimants "can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims". Victim awarded £10 compensation Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan's children's home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court. Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made. Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA. Hundreds of millions paid to victims The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims. In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales. But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it "is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse". "In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward," it added. For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse. "The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse," Marie said.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- The Guardian
Alleged sexual abuse claim farm kingpin used law firm to get fraudulent $650,000 government payout, police allege
An alleged kingpin of a fraudulent claims farming ring used a prestigious law firm to submit an allegedly fraudulent historical sexual abuse compensation claim worth more than $650,000 against the New South Wales government, a court will hear. Fotis Frank Antonios, 54, was arrested in February and is facing 21 charges, including multiple charges of inciting people to make fraudulent claims of historical child sexual assault and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage. Antonios also faces a charge of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Police will allege he made a fraudulent historical child sexual abuse compensation claim against the Department of Communities and Justice between 2020 and 2022 for alleged sexual abuse at Mount Penang Boys Home between 1987 and 1988. Police allege the claims resulted in fees of approximately $415,000 paid to Slater and Gordon Lawyers, with a settlement of $244,303.29 paid to Antonios after legal fees, according to the court documents. Antonios is also charged with submitting a fraudulent application for compensation to the National Redress Scheme and gaining financial compensation up to $150,000 from the government. He has been refused bail. Police allege in court documents that Antonios received multiple payments of approximately $2,200 referrals of individuals to the law firm AJB Stevens Lawyers Sydney, after allegedly inciting people to make fraudulent statements of historical child sexual assault or abuse. No charges have been laid against any of the law firms and police have not suggested the law firms knew the claims were allegedly false. Charges have been laid against 10 people in relation to an alleged fraudulent 'claims farming' ring. New South Wales and Queensland police made the arrests through Strike Force Veritas in February. Det Supt Gordon Arbinja alleged that 'claim farmers' approached former young offenders, inmates and public school students, and encouraged them to file fraudulent compensation claims for historic child sexual abuse while in care. The claims were brought against the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the NSW Department of Education. Antonios and his nine co-accused will face court in Sydney on 22 May.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- The Guardian
What is claim farming – and is there anything wrong with it?
For many people, the first time they ever heard the term 'claim farming' was last week, when New South Wales police announced seven arrests had been made and an allegedly fraudulent claims farming syndicate had been uncovered. Police alleged that 'claims farmers' at the heart of the scheme coached former young offenders, inmates and public school students, on how to file false compensation claims for historic child sexual abuse while in care, then sold those referrals on to law firms in Sydney. Claim farming, a practice that these arrests have shone a light on, is legal in most states including NSW, where intermediaries are allowed to sell on the details of victims to law firms, who then make claims on their behalf. Last week's arrests were not due to claim farming per se, but allegations that the claims being farmed were fraudulent. Police will allege in court that in relation to the matters they had charged so far, the seven charged stood to make $3.75m. But Det Supt Gordon Arbinja said police would allege in court that at the time of arrest the group held another 100 applications, and the intervention of police last week prevented another $30m in compensation being paid out. In his press conference announcing the arrests of the allegedly fraudulent claim farming syndicate, Arbinja stated those charged had allegedly targeted three compensation programs, including the National Redress Scheme. The NRS was established after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as a means of providing financial redress to victims. The claims are capped at $150,000, but have a lower threshold for proof than civil claims and are far more accessible. Claim farming is not illegal in most of the country – though Queensland and South Australia have introduced legislation to prohibit it and the NSW government has a draft exposure bill seeking to outlaw the practice. Groups who engage in claim farming argue they act as trusted intermediaries between victims and a complex, overwhelming legal system and enable more people to access compensation by facilitating introductions between victim-survivors and trusted law firms. But many lawyers and advocates argue that claims farming itself is too easy to exploit, and makes it harder for genuine survivors to be believed and get justice. Someone who is familiar with claim farming is Adair Donaldson, a Queensland lawyer who has worked getting compensation for victims – including victims of childhood sexual abuse – for more than two decades. Donaldson has been approached many times by 'claims farmers' trying to sell him the details of potential clients. He says over the years he regularly received calls, often from members of survivor advocacy groups, offering to refer potential clients to him for a fee. 'This wasn't limited to one or two people. There were a number of organisations that I could think of that were doing this practice,' he says. 'What they would then do is that they often targeted lower socioeconomic areas or people … [or] our prison systems, and they would then contact these people and then engage with lawyers offering to sell their claims to the lawyers.' Law firms are then able to make civil claims on behalf of the clients – suing institutions or government departments for compensation for historic sexual abuse, for example – and then take their legal fees from the eventual payout. John Rule, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, has also experienced these offers – and, like Donaldson, he does not accept referrals from claims farmers. 'Someone who's sort of self-styled as an advocate, they go and collect up a whole lot of claims from a particular institution, say, a particular private school or whatever it is, and then they approach us and try to sell to us in bulk. We've been very conscious about that from the start, of not engaging with those sorts of people.' Donaldson has heard of claims farmers charging law firms fees of between $4,500 and $6,500 for each client referral. But Guardian Australia has seen documents from one survivor advocacy group citing fees of up to $14,000. Several lawyers told Guardian Australia they have heard from people who have been 'claim farmed' that the referral fee paid by the law firm to the claim farmer was then added to the individual's legal bill as a 'disbursement', meaning claim farmers are not only profiting from referring victims, but the victims are also effectively paying to be claim farmed. A key issue, says Rule, is that claims farming could become an 'incentive to turn a blind eye' to suspect claims. '[Claims farmers can] undermine legitimate claims by survivors of abuse, and those survivors of abuse are, by definition, incredibly vulnerable and already distrustful of the system and the abuse survivors really need a system they can trust,' Rule says. 'An unfortunate reality is that at some of these boys' homes and juvenile detention centres, they had disproportionately higher levels of sexual and physical abuse. So there are a lot of legitimate claims from there, and those ones, I think, are going to be treated especially harshly by defendants and insurers and possibly courts,' Rule says. 'So it has very real world consequences in the way that it will make the process much harder on legitimate survivors.' One lawyer, who works at Knowmore, the not-for-profit organisation that assists survivors in accessing the National Redress Scheme, has spoken on condition of anonymity about clients who have come to her seeking help after having been claim-farmed. She says these clients didn't always have a clear sense of who was representing them and how the fees work, and sometimes did not realise the claims farmer was being paid for their involvement in their case. '[Sometimes] the survivor doesn't even know that the person that seems to be wanting to help them was actually taking a cut. And I think when the survivor does find that out, they feel like they've been taken advantage of, and that those people were out to make money from their pain,' she says. The lawyer says she has heard of survivors being 'cold-called' by claim farmers asking them about their childhood sexual abuse, which they may not have disclosed to anyone before, in a process she described as being 'not at all trauma-informed', before offering to sign them up to a law firm. 'So the process can be incredibly re-traumatising for them, and then to find that the person that they were trusting had taken advantage of them and used them to make money, clients have told us how devastating that is.' Jackie Mead, the CEO of Knowmore, is aware of cases where survivors have signed up with claims farmers and been told they will win a huge sum in civil litigation, only for the lawyer to realise that such a claim wasn't likely to be successful because of the higher threshold of proof for civil claims. 'The fallback is that they then say, well, we can get you $85,000 through the redress scheme. But by then, if they've racked up $40,000 worth of legal fees, when they could have had the same service for free in terms of getting their redress payment, that's a massive issue.' Mead says she knows of cases where half of people's redress payments went on legal fees, something she says is 'abhorrent', especially given that protections are in place to try to ensure the redress payment goes entirely to the survivor of abuse. For example, redress payments cannot be garnished by Centrelink, even if the person had a debt to Centrelink. Mead says the allegedly fraudulent claims exposed by police last week will have a huge impact on trust in the system – for decision-makers of claims, survivors who might fear they won't be believed, and for public perception of people accessing compensation and redress. 'We have to remember, for so long, these people weren't believed, and so for it now to be a situation where anybody has to scratch their head and think, 'Is this a real claim or is it a fraudulent claim?' It's terrible.' In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
