Abuse survivors are facing further delays in redress payments as negotiations over how to fund compensation for victims of sexual abuse in sporting institutions stall. State and territory governments are under pressure to step in to fund the compensation owed by organisations that refuse to join the national redress scheme for victims of institutional sexual abuse.
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00:00Six organisations have just been added to the name and shame list of those that refuse
00:06to sign up to the National Redress Scheme, doubling its length.
00:10Most of the 12 organisations named on this list are sporting groups who, unlike religious
00:14organisations, can't be threatened with having their charity status revoked if they
00:17don't join.
00:18That's meant at least 50 applications from survivors of abuse are unable to progress,
00:23stuck at a standstill, with a number of victims having been waiting years since the scheme
00:27was established in 2018.
00:29Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth wrote to all state and territory ministers
00:33last month looking to strike a deal that would see their governments pay instead.
00:37But at this week's virtual meeting it didn't work out that way.
00:41The ABC understands every state and territory was on board, except for the NT, and that
00:45without everybody on the same page, these changes can't be made.
00:49Survivor advocates like Claire Leaney, the CEO of In Good Faith, that supports abuse
00:52victims, say few levers are left to pull to make sporting groups sign up, and that states
00:57and territories have to bridge the gap.
00:59On top of this problem, the scheme is already facing a substantial backlog.
01:03A parliamentary inquiry into its operation last month calling on the federal government
01:07to increase funding to the Department of Social Services and other redress and legal support
01:12services to ensure all applications can be finalised on time.
01:16The ABC has approached all state and territory ministers responsible for the scheme for comment.