The Guides to Social Policy Law is a collection of publications designed to assist decision makers administering social policy law. The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to relevant legislation/policy. The information is accurate as at the date listed at the bottom of the page, but may be subject to change. To discuss individual circumstances please contact Services Australia.

5.1.1 Redress payment - method statement

Methodology

This topic outlines the methodology to calculate the redress payment amount for a person, and each responsible institution's liability for a redress payment, when the Operator, or an Independent Decision Maker, has approved an application for redress.

The method is as follows:

Step Action Act reference
1

Assessed maximum amount:

Apply the NRS Assessment Framework to work out the maximum amount of the redress payment that could be payable to a person. The amount cannot be more than $150,000.

NRSAct section 30

2

Identify sets of abuse where there is more than 1 set of abuse:

Identify the abuse experienced by the survivor into 'sets' of abuse. A set of abuse is all abuse for which the same combination of institutions are responsible, regardless of whether they are participating in the Scheme.

If the person is a child migrant refer to 5.1.3 to work out the institutions' share of the maximum amount.

If there is more than 1 set of abuse, go to step 4.

 NRS Rules section 22
3

One set of abuse - gross liability:

If there is only 1 set of abuse, work out the institution's share of the maximum amount:

  • Maximum amount determined in step 1 ÷ Number of institutions that are equally responsible for that set of abuse (which may be 1)
  • Round to 6 decimal places (4 decimal places of a cent).
  • Go to step 8.

NRSAct section 30(2) step 2 of the method statement

NRS Rules section 21

Apply steps 4 to 7 where there is more than 1 set of abuse as worked out in step 2.

Steps 4 to 7 must be applied to each set and step 8 must be applied to each participating institution.
4

Notional amount for each set:

For each set of abuse work out how much the maximum amount would be according to the assessment framework, as if it was the only set (this will be used to 'weight' the sets of abuse against each other in step 6).

If all institutions are participating, go to step 6.

 NRS Rules section 23
5

If applicable, deduct any non-participating institutions' share from set:

If a set of abuse contains a non-participating institution/s that is equally responsible with a participating institution/s, the weighting is adjusted to be a fairer split for institutions. To do this, apply the following formula:

  • Amount worked out under step 4 × Number of participating institutions ÷ Number of responsible institutions
  • Round to 6 decimal places (4 decimals of a cent).
 NRS Rules section 23
6

Share of the maximum amount for each set of abuse:

Work out each set's share of the maximum amount. To do this, apply the following formula for each set:

  • Amount from step 4 or 5 (where applicable) ÷ Sum total of the notional maximum amounts for all sets × Amount determined in step 1
  • Round to 6 decimal places (4 decimals of a cent).
 NRS Rules section 24
7

Share of the maximum amount for each institution:

Work out each institution's share by applying the following formula for each institution:

  • Amount determined in step 6 ÷ Number of participating institutions responsible for the set (which may be 1)
  • Round up to the next whole cent.
 NRS Rules section 25

8

Calculate institution's gross liability:

Work out each institution's gross liability amount by adding up the institution's liability across all sets of abuse.

 NRS Rules section 25(5)
9

Identify any relevant prior payments, and adjust them for inflation (this is the 'reduction amount'):

Identify any past prior payments (or portions) made by responsible institutions paid in recognition of the abuse or harm caused by abuse within scope of the Scheme.

Adjust for inflation:

  • Prior payment × (1.019)n
    Where n= number of whole years since payment paid (known as the ‘indexation date’)
  • Round to the nearest cent.
 NRSAct section 30(2) steps 3 and 4 of the method statement, section 71D(4)(c) and section 71D(5) for reassessment calculation
10

Final liability: deduct reduction amount from institution's share:

Calculate each institution's total liability by deducting adjusted relevant prior payments from the gross liability amount. Apply the following formula:

Institution's final liability = Institution's gross liability calculated in step 8 or step 3 − Amount determined in step 9

 NRSAct section 30(2) step 5 of the method statement
11

Find the redress payment for a person by adding institutions' liabilities:

Add together all participating institutions' liability worked out in step 10. This total amount should be paid to the survivor.

However, the amount cannot be more than the maximum for the person under the NRS Assessment Framework.

 NRSAct section 30(2) step 6 of the method statement

If the Operator applies the method statement to calculate the share of costs for a liable institution, and that institution is a participating defunct institution, special requirements under section 165 of the NRSAct may apply where a government institution is a funder of last resort.

Act reference: NRSAct Part 2-3 Division 4—The Operator must determine whether to approve the application, Part 3-3 Division 2— Reassessment of determinations, Part 6-2 Division 3—Special rules for funder of last resort cases

NRS Rules Part 6 Division 2—Requirements for working out institution's gross liability amount

Policy reference: Redress Guide 5.1 Redress payment (monetary payment)

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