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When survivors of child sexual abuse receive compensation, many may have to repay Centrelink, Medicare and private health insurance amounts relating to their abuse.
While these amounts are taken into account when compensation is calculated, they are subtracted from the lump sum before the money reaches survivors’ bank accounts.
Mr Turner had to repay more than $90,000 to his private health insurance, relating to three stays at a mental health clinic during his criminal and civil proceedings.
“The view is that they have already compensated you enough in your settlement, but that’s a fallacy,”
he said.
Mr Turner believes the system should be streamlined, and any repayments should be accounted for early in the process so that survivors can plan for the full amount they will receive.
“The civil compensation journey is really quite long and arduous, to have a system where they also take another bite at the cherry, there’s no such word as closure,” he said.
Michael Bradley, managing partner at Marque Lawyers and a board member of the Grace Tame Foundation, supports the idea of a streamlined approach to limit the burden on survivors.
“Coming at the end of what has inevitably been a very traumatic process itself, it’s just sort of a bit of a final nail in the coffin,” he said.
The reason for the repayments is to prevent survivors from being paid twice by the government or insurance agency.
“The theory is if the Commonwealth has, through Medicare, paid you something towards that, then obviously that money should go back to the Commonwealth and back to the taxpayers,” Mr Bradley said.
“Otherwise, there’s a windfall gain.”
However, the process to calculate the required repayment amounts can take months.
Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn supports a change to the compensation system and is pushing for further reforms.
“This is not like a Tattslotto win. This is a tremendously difficult process where someone has to explain the worst thing that ever happened to them, every decision they’ve made subsequently and wait essentially, for the institution to haggle over the price of the loss to their life,” she said.
“If you’ve paid your insurance dues and they’ve been written off, often many years ago, too late for the insurer to come back.
“If you’ve received the disability support payment for years when you had no prospect of having compensation, the government should just wear it.