In this blog, I discuss what the National Redress Scheme review is, who it is inviting to speak, how government‑funded supports fit into the picture, and where longer‑term, specialised therapy might be helpful for people living with the complex impacts of historical and institutional sexual abuse.

The National Redress Scheme is currently undergoing an eighth-anniversary independent review, and survivors are being asked to share their experiences and views. For people living with the impacts of historical and institutional sexual abuse, updates like this can bring up many different responses—interest, uncertainty, grief, anger, numbness, or simply the question of whether engaging is worth it at all.

I am not part of the Scheme, and I don’t work for any institution involved in it. In my practice, I offer trauma-informed counselling and a sex therapy-focused space for people living with the impacts of historical and institutional sexual abuse, and I practise in the areas of forensic sexology and sexual assault and violence. This piece is simply an update about what’s happening, with some reflections you may find helpful as you decide how, or if, you want to engage.

This blog sits alongside my earlier piece, When Redress Isn’t Enough: Sex Therapy and Trauma Counselling for Survivors of Institutional Sexual Abuse, which explores some of the deeper emotional, relational and sexual impacts that redress processes can stir. You can read that post here: When Redress Isn’t Enough.

Sexual trauma is complex. It doesn’t only live in memory. It can shape the nervous system, the way a person inhabits their body, how arousal and desire feel, what touch means, and how trust, intimacy and consent are negotiated over time. In a specialised sexological capacity, I pay attention to how historical sexual abuse and sexual assault can affect pleasure, contribute to emotional and physical pain, boundaries, identity, erotic life and a person’s relationship with their body, often long after the abuse itself has ended.

Where The National Redress Scheme Is Up To

The National Redress Scheme was established on 1 July 2018 for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse before 1 July 2018. Under current legislation, applications to the Scheme can be lodged until 30 June 2027, and the Scheme is moving toward its legislated closure after that period.

The Scheme offers three main forms of redress: a payment, access to counselling and psychological care, and the option of a direct personal response from the institution if that is something the person wants. These can matter. They can also sit alongside long-standing impacts on the body, sexuality, relationships and sense of self that no scheme, payment or apology can fully resolve.

Now that the Scheme is in its eighth year, an independent review of how it has been operating is underway. Public consultation opened on 1 July 2026 and closes on 31 July 2026. The review is being led by Michael Manthorpe PSM, who has been appointed to listen to feedback and provide recommendations to government about how the Scheme can be improved and safely brought to closure.

Deadlines like these can stir urgency, grief, anger or pressure, especially when institutions have already shaped so much of a person’s experience of safety, voice and bodily autonomy. If that is what this brings up in you, that makes sense.

What This Review is Asking

The review is focused on how people find out about the Scheme, how they access and understand it, whether it is delivering timely and high-quality outcomes, and what should be prioritised as the Scheme approaches closure. It is also looking at what lessons from the Scheme should inform future supports and services for survivors.

From where I sit in my therapy room, these are not just administrative questions. They are questions about how systems respond to sexual violence, how institutions recognise harm, and whether survivors are met with processes that are actually survivable, understandable and respectful.

The review is open to feedback from previous and current applicants, survivors who decided not to apply, people who started applications and did not continue, family members and carers, support services, advocacy organisations and institutions. That matters, because some of the most important insights come from people who stepped away, felt overwhelmed, or found that the process did not fit the complexity of what they were living with.

How to Have Your Say

There are two main ways to provide feedback to the review: by uploading a written submission or by completing the online feedback form. It is up to each person whether they choose to make a submission, answer the form, or not participate at all. The official consultation page is here: National Redress Scheme Eighth Anniversary Review.

Participation is voluntary. People can choose how much detail to share, which questions to answer and whether they want to engage at all. If you are considering contributing, it can help to approach it the same way many trauma-informed practitioners approach difficult therapeutic material: slowly, with boundaries, and with attention to what your body is telling you.

In my practice, I pay close attention to consent and pacing. That applies here too. Some people may want to write in short bursts, decide in advance how much to disclose, or stop as soon as they notice overwhelm. “Not now” is a valid answer. So is “not at all.”

Scheme-Funded Supports and Where Longer-Term Therapy May Still Be Needed

Government-funded Redress Support Services and the counselling and psychological care offered through the Scheme are important parts of the redress landscape. They are free, confidential and designed to help people understand the Scheme, think through options and complete an application if they choose.

For people who accept an offer of redress, the counselling and psychological care component generally provides a minimum of 20 hours of counselling over a lifetime, depending on the jurisdiction and individual circumstances. In some places there may be more available, or additional hours may be approved, but the core structure is still finite and scheme-based rather than open-ended therapy.

These supports can be incredibly valuable, especially while someone is preparing an application, responding to an offer, or trying to get through a difficult administrative process. At the same time, the complexity of sexual trauma often extends far beyond what can be held inside a limited number of sessions or an application-focused service. Twenty sessions may help with immediate distress, decision-making and stabilisation, but they are rarely enough to fully work through the deeper impacts of historical sexual abuse on the body, sexuality, relationships, shame, trust and identity.

It is also true that services in this space can change over time. Providers, funding arrangements and referral pathways can shift as the Scheme moves toward closure, which can make continuity difficult for some people. That does not make those services unhelpful. It simply means they often serve a different purpose from longer-term, specialised therapy.

In my practice, the work sits alongside rather than against those services. Some people may come to me while they are using redress supports. Others come after those sessions have ended, or because they want a more specialised and longer-term space to work with the sexual, relational and embodied impacts of trauma. We are not limited to a fixed session count. We can stay with what unfolds over time.

If You’re Thinking About Applying – Or Re-Evaluating an Offer

You might be reading this because you are wondering whether to apply, waiting on a decision, holding an offer that feels complex, or trying to work out whether to accept, decline or step away. Those are not small decisions.

The Scheme can provide recognition and resources, but it is not the only way to seek acknowledgement, support or justice. For many people, engaging with it brings up anger, shame, relief, grief, numbness or confusion. It can also stir things in the body and in intimate life that are hard to explain in ordinary counselling language.

In my practice, I work with people to make sense of how redress processes intersect with desire, arousal, pleasure, boundaries, consent, body memory, relationships and a person’s broader sense of self. We can think together about whether the Scheme fits your needs and values, prepare for the impact of telling your story, or process what an offer, delay or institutional response has brought up afterwards.

I don’t tell people what they should do about the Scheme. My role is to offer a space where the complexity can be spoken, felt and worked with carefully.

You’re Welcome Here

You’re welcome here, whether or not you have engaged with the National Redress Scheme, and whether your abuse was in a church, school, youth detention, or any other institution that was meant to keep you safe.

If you are in Adelaide, elsewhere in Australia, or overseas, and something in this piece about historical institutional sexual abuse or the National Redress Scheme has resonated, you are welcome to start working with me and book a session. Our work together can become a space to explore what feels most important right now, including any impact on your body, sexuality, intimacy, attachment or sense of self.

You do not need to arrive with the perfect words, a complete memory, or a fully formed plan; it is enough that you know something happened and that it matters. Whether you have applied for redress, are thinking about it, have decided against it, or are feeling the emotional rollercoaster that recognition without full justice can bring, your responses are valid. Your life matters, your body is not to blame, and it is entirely valid to seek support for what happened to you, even many years later, including support alongside or separate from the National Redress Scheme’s counselling and psychological care.